CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – One small business in Charlottesville is taking action against President Donald Trump’s large-scale tariffs on imported goods.
MicroKits, which creates electrical engineering kits for STEM students and hobbyists, has joined four other businesses from across the country in the Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit against the White House.
The Center’s lawsuit is aimed particularly at what they call “the unprecedented nature of the tariffs, including a global 10% tariff on nearly all imports.”
David Levi founded MicroKits in 2020 with the dream of inspiring the next generation of electrical engineers.
But if no action is taken to intervene, he says he may have to relocate or close his operations altogether.
“I’m definitely feeling very confused and scared,” Levi said. “In some ways, I also feel in denial still maybe because again, the way these tariffs were put into place…they were just declared, so I don’t know if they’re going to change in the next two days or the next two years.”
Levi assembles his electrical kits in his East Market St. space with imported parts from a number of different countries, including China, Mexico, and Thailand. According to the suit, these parts “are not readily available from United States suppliers at all, without substantial additional costs, or without having to redesign its products.”
Just about a month ago, Levi was considering expanding and hiring a new assistant for operations.
“And then, these tariffs came,” Levi said, “and they came way bigger than I thought.”
Now, Levi’s shelves, which are normally filled with imported parts, are empty. He has halted all operations.
“As a manufacturer, I’m kind of on the frontlines of this,” Levi said. “I’m able to see maybe a couple months sooner than retailers and customers how huge of an effect these tariffs are going to have.”
Jeffrey Schwab, Senior Counsel with the Liberty Justice Center, says President Trump does not have the power to singlehandedly institute these tariffs and that, if he did, he would have needed to prove that it was in response to an emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“It has to be an unusual or extraordinary threat from outside of the country,” Schwab said. “Those things aren’t met. The President…says that the national emergency is a trade deficit. Well…we’ve had a trade deficit for basically 50 years in this country. That’s not an emergency.”
Trump has long voiced his support for tariffs, contending that they will protect the U.S. and make Americans richer.
But Schwab says that, at least when it comes to small businesses, these tariffs do the opposite. The Liberty Justice Center already filed the suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade and says it is also filing a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction.
“The idea is to get a ruling from the court as quickly as we can, because we see the devastating effect these tariffs are having, not only on our clients but on businesses across the US,” Schwab said.
For Levi, it’s a harsh reality. He has already raised his prices and is even considering relocating outside of the country.
One thing he knows for certain is that MicroKits as he knows it cannot survive here, unless something changes.
“It’s taken me years to put together my supply chain,” Levi said. “I’m kind of paralyzed. I don’t know how to invest my time and where to take my business.”
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