A small Illinois toymaker’s legal gamble has culminated in a ruling that could reshape President Donald Trump’s tariff policy and potentially unlock billions of dollars in refunds for US importers.
In a significant blow to the Trump administration’s trade policy, the court on Friday struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The decision came after a wave of lawsuits filed by importers, US state governments and other stakeholders who challenged the legality of the move.
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Among the earliest challengers was toymaker Learning Resources – a relatively small but determined player that helped set the legal battle in motion.
Toy business takes on Trump tariffs
Learning Resources, which imports most of its educational toys from China, filed suit last April soon after the tariffs were announced. The company argued that the duties would significantly hurt small import-dependent businesses.
Learning Resources CEO, Rick Woldenberg, celebrated the ruling saying that it offers a moment to pause and reassess. “My hope is that this ruling is an opportunity for everyone to take a breath and think about what is important and what needs to get done,” he told Reuters on Friday.
If the decision ultimately results in refunds, Learning Resources and other importers could be entitled to a share of billions of dollars collected through the tariffs. However, the Supreme Court did not clarify how or when such repayments might take place.
‘Gimme my money back’
“They have a record of what they took from me, just reverse the gears, guys, and gimme my money back,” Bloomberg quoted the toy company’s CEO as saying.
“The US government sends out millions of tax refunds a year, and no one, when they open the check, goes: ‘Oh my God, how did they do that? That’s a marvel.’ They know how to do it. They can do it. It’s our money. Give it back.”
For Woldenberg, the case was less about politics and more about taxation. Speaking in a separate interview with Reuters on Thursday local time, he said he felt compelled to act.
“I decided that I would have a lot harder time dealing with not acting than acting,” he said, stressing that he did not view the lawsuit as political. “It’s about taxes. They owe us money… every American agrees we pay too much in taxes, and no one will want to pay a tax they don’t have to pay.”
He added that if the country needs more revenue, lawmakers should debate it openly. “If the country needs revenues, then have a debate in Congress,” he said. Calling the ruling a positive development, he remarked, “I’m excited. Hopefully, this is something everyone feels they won. It’s a win for everyone.”
‘We shrank last year’
Learning Resources and its sister company, hand2mind, are part of a much larger ecosystem. Woldenberg said his company felt the impact directly. “We shrank last year,” he noted.
According to a 2025 report by the US chamber of commerce, small businesses make up about 97% of US importers and collectively bring in roughly $868 billion worth of goods each year. The report described the tariffs as a threat to their survival.
The Trump administration’s key argument that companies could shift manufacturing back to the United States, the Learning Resources CEO said, overlooked ground realities.
“Moving a supply chain out of a country on an emergency basis, as if bombs are falling on your head, is a project no one is prepared for,” he said.
The toy manufacturer felt the hit as the company operates more than 30 heavy injection-moulding machines from China, each weighing several tons, used to pump molten plastic into steel casings to create toys.
The CEO said that relocating such equipment would require dozens of flatbed trucks and cranes, making it prohibitively expensive and logistically daunting.
The company’s long-time partner factory in China employs a skilled workforce familiar with stringent toy safety standards. Replicating that capability in the US, Woldenberg said, could take months or even years.
Now, he remains optimistic that tariff payments already made will eventually be returned. “And as soon as they do, we’ll start spending it,” he said. “We want to run our company again,” he added, according to Reuters.
More than 1,800 tariff-related lawsuits have been filed with the US Court of International Trade since April, which marks a sharp rise compared with fewer than two dozen in all of 2024.
(With Reuters inputs)