Small Burlington Company Helps Land Huge Tariff Ruling

Updated at 9:56 p.m.

A Burlington-based women’s cycling gear company is one of the small businesses that won a court ruling on Wednesday that threatens to block a swath of the tariffs that President Donald Trump has imposed as a cornerstone of his economic policy.

Terry Precision Cycling is one of five businesses that brought a case to the obscure U.S. Court of International Trade, which is based in New York. Several states, including Vermont, also sued. The plaintiffs argued that Trump lacks the authority to unilaterally impose many of the tariffs he’s put into place using emergency powers. Tariffs he has implemented under a separate national security provision are not affected by the ruling, the New York Times reported.

Many businesses have decried the tariffs and the uncertainty around them. Some that source manufactured products and raw materials from other countries have said the tariffs could do them in. Trump, meantime, has favored the levies as a way of correcting trade imbalances and returning manufacturing facilities and jobs to the U.S.

On Wednesday, the court issued a summary judgment for Terry and the other businesses, which threatens to upset the president’s economic policies and ongoing international trade negotiations. The Trump administration is appealing, and an appeals court agreed Thursday to a temporary stay of the trade court decision — preserving the tariffs for the time being.

Georgena Terry started the company in Rochester, N.Y., some 40 years ago. It sells an array of gear, including clothing and seats.

In 2009, Terry sold a majority interest to Liz Robert, a former CEO of Vermont Teddy Bear, VermontBiz reported. Robert, an avid cyclist, moved Terry Precision Cycling to the Queen City, where it now has offices in the Karma Bird House, a building on Maple Street. She retired last year.

Company president Nik Holm said in a statement on Thursday that Terry Cycling has, throughout its history, manufactured many products in the U.S. and still does. But it also sources items from overseas.

“Innovation comes from all parts of the globe, and so do the unique materials and product lines that shape our niche business,” the statement said. It went on to call the ruling a “turning point” for the “countless small manufacturers trying to compete while staying true to their values and needs of customers.

“The now-vacated tariffs disrupted our supply chains, added costs, and forced us into months of defensive planning. We had to source new raw materials, rework long-standing partnerships, and test production strategies that pulled us away from what matters most.”