Updated Feb. 23, 2025: Following the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision last week invalidating many of the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, the White House announced a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. This tariff, which the President then increased to the maximum allowable 15%, are valid for 150 days, with Congressional approval required after that period.
Outdoor and surf brands and retailers will grapple with more uncertainty in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling that found President Donald Trump’s tariffs were imposed illegally under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
“The whole tariff situation has led to chaos in terms of planning,” said Matt Powell, senior advisor at BCE Consulting and the founder of Spurwink River. “I don’t think that gets better any time soon.”
While some companies, such as Costco, have filed lawsuits seeking reimbursement of the more than $100 billion in tariffs collected in 2025 that were imposed by President Trump over the course of the year, it is possible that Congress could vote to give Trump the power to set tariffs unilaterally, Congress could implement tariffs or Trump could attempt to use an executive order to reinstate the tariffs, Powell said.
On Friday, following the Supreme Court ruling, Trump said he would impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, reported Reuters. The president said he could impose the 10% tariff for up to 150 days and look for a way to implement tariffs longer term under the Trade Act.
The Supreme Court Ruling (From Retail TouchPoints)
The Supreme Court struck down a significant portion of President Donald Trump’s signature economic agenda in a 6-3 vote that found that IEEPA “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs,” according to the ruling, which upheld the decision of two previous courts. The Supreme Court heard the case in early November.
Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion of the court, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissenting.
Allowing tariffs to proceed in this manner “would represent a transformative expansion of the President’s authority over tariff policy,” the decision concluded.
“It is also telling that in IEEPA’s half century of existence, no President has invoked the statute to impose any tariffs, let alone tariffs of this magnitude and scope,” the decision continued. “That lack of historical precedent, coupled with the breadth of authority that the President now claims, suggests that the tariffs extend beyond the President’s ‘legitimate reach.’”
To institute tariffs on this level, the court deemed that Trump must “point to clear congressional authorization,” which, it concluded, “he cannot.”
Tariff Problems Not Over
Daniel Neukomm, the CEO of The La Jolla Group, which operates O’Neill Clothing, PSD Underwear, and other brands, said he doesn’t believe the Supreme Court ruling means all tariff-related problems will go away.
“They didn’t say the President can’t issue tariffs – just that he can’t use that particular mechanism to do it,” Neukomm said.
As far as potentially getting a refund for the tariffs the company has paid, he is skeptical about that as well.
“I would love a refund,” Neukomm said. “But what about consumers — do they get a refund as well? That’s going to be really complicated.”
If tariffs were to be eliminated, the company estimates it wouldn’t begin to benefit from lower prices until about eight months from now, when placing orders for Spring/Summer ’27.
“It’s not like prices are going to go down tomorrow,” he said. “Really, the biggest thing that happened today was one branch of government checked and balanced another one. Now, I’m sure more maneuvering will ensue.”
Time, Labor and Money “Wasted”
Paul Naude, CEO of Stokehouse Unlimited, home to the Vissla, Sisstr and Amuse Society brands, said he was happy the Supreme Court finally made a ruling, but wished it would have decided earlier.
“There was a lot of time, a lot of man-hours and a lot of money wasted,” he said.
He’s skeptical that the tariffs will go away all together — he believes the Trump administration will find other ways to keep the levies in place. And he doesn’t believe refunds are realistic given how long it takes to get duty drawbacks, which is a legitimate protocol that has been in place for decades, he said.
“It takes years at times to get duty drawbacks,” Naude said. “So, I wouldn’t get too excited about the potential for tariff refunds.”
The biggest immediate question that both Neukomm and Naude have: Does the ruling mean goods landing at port from this point forward land tariff-free?
“That would be the biggest benefit all businesses could enjoy and hopefully that’s the case,” Naude said.
For now, though, Naude plans to sit tight and see what happens.
“We can’t keep throwing man-hours at this until there’s clarity moving forward,” he said. “At the moment, the signs are positive, but it depends on how the administration reacts to the ruling. Hopefully, it doesn’t get worse.”
Complications Around Refunds, Pricing, Supply Chain
Should companies have a path to reimbursement, it could create other economic issues, said Eoin Comerford, former CEO of Moosejaw, founder of Outsize Consulting and host of podcast “The Outdoor Insiders,” premiering March 2.
“It’s $240 billion — that’s going to leave a massive hole in the budget for this year,” Comerford said. “Let’s just say half of that is actually refunded. That’s a huge hole in the budget that’s got to come from somewhere. It could impact the overall economy.”
Comerford said for now, any price increases related to tariffs will likely stay in place. For one, tariffs impacted by the Supreme Court ruling could be replaced through another mechanism.
“The second thing is, we’ve got a pretty long and lengthy supply chain,” he said. One brand executive told Comerford he’d spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on retagging products in the company’s warehouse to new prices.
“He’s not going to turn around and then retag it back to the old price,” Comerford said.
In the future, as new products are brought in, prices may be more reasonable should tariffs implemented under the IEEPA be eliminated, Comerford said.
“Prices in discretionary products typically go up and they stay up unless there’s a major change where a disruptive brand comes in and leverages the lower pricing to undercut the market,” he said.
A lot of brands moved to a delivery duty paid model, pushing tariff liability onto manufacturers, versus a free on board (FOB) model.
“So one wonders, if the taxes stay where they are, are the producers in these other countries going to come back and say, ‘Well, actually, now we expect to be able to raise our prices again,’” Comerford said.
Comerford said it’s unlikely that brands will react to the news and will await more certainty. Some brands, for example, moved their supply chain out of China and into India, and then had to manage a worse tariff situation than they had in China.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Comerford said. “We just have to keep our heads down and keep going. And if we get a refund, great. And if we get a margin increase, great. But we cannot continue to whipsaw at the whim of the current administration.”
