Karl Brown, founder of the family-owned, Hatboro-based Pretzel Pete, was featured in WHYY‘s coverage of the Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump’s tariff authority.

According to the Associated Press, justices ruled 6-3 against the tariffs on Friday, finding that it is unconstitutional for the president to unilaterally set and change tariffs.

“The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

According to the WHYY, Pretzel Pete’s exports make up around half of their sales and relies on imports for ingredients that are “impossible” to source domestically. Brown told The Philadelphia Business Journal in 2022 that “We still have a very disproportionately high percentage of our sales overseas than most other snack companies, or most other U.S. companies, period.”

Brown, a longtime president of SB Global Foods, told WHYY that Trump’s implementation of tariffs through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) had an “immediate impact” on the company and made those imports more costly and “prohibitive” in some cases.

He noted that China was the company’s “largest customer by far” until Trump imposed a 25% tariff on China during his first term. China retaliated with a comparable tariff.

“Since those tariffs were imposed, our business with China dropped to about 10% of the level that it was and has never recovered,” he told WHYY.

Pretzel Pete employs around 80 people and was founded in 1997.

Kent Smetters, a professor of economics at UPenn, told WHYY that the tariff’s overall impact on the economy was likely less than two-tenths of 1%. Consumers paid around an additional $800 last year in increased costs.

U.S. Sen. David McCormick said in a statement that the tariffs are one of the “tools that shrink our trade deficit, stop the dangerous flow of fentanyl, bring critical manufacturing jobs home, and prevent foreign competitors from cheating Pennsylvania workers.”

“As I have said many times, I believe President Trump was using legitimate emergency authorities very effectively to protect our national security and achieve fair trade for U.S. companies and American workers,” he wrote. “We must stay focused on the President’s goals of protecting America’s economic and national security.”

For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.

Photo: Pretzel Pete via Forbes