(Sierra Sun Times)—Last week, Stonemaier Games, an American board game company, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s tariffs, which dramatically increase production costs and could be financially devastating. The business, represented by Pacific Legal Foundation, argues that the president doesn’t have the power to impose these tariffs.
Founded by Jamey Stegmaier and Alan Stone, Stonemaier works closely with its Chinese partners to manufacture its board games, including its incredibly popular game Wingspan. After the Trump administration slapped China with a 145% tariff on virtually every product imported to the United States, Stonemaier and other companies that rely heavily on Chinese goods will have to pay a massive tax to keep up with demand.
“We will not stand idle while our livelihood—and the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners and contractors in the U.S.—are treated like pawns in a political game,” said Jamey Stegmaier, co-founder of Stonemaier Games. “We now face a $14.50 tariff tax for every $10 we spent on manufacturing with our trusted long-term partner in China. For Stonemaier Games, that amounts to upcoming tariff payments of nearly $1.5 million.”
On February 1, 2025, President Trump imposed tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China purportedly to address national emergencies with illegal immigration and the illicit importation of fentanyl. On April 2, 2025, the president imposed tariffs on virtually every country on earth purportedly to address the national emergency resulting from persistent trade imbalances. The president claimed the authority to impose these tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
IEEPA gives the president the power to “investigate, regulate, or prohibit any transactions in foreign exchange” and to “regulate…importation” in response to a national emergency. But IEEPA does not even mention tariffs, much less does it authorize the president to impose tariffs or duties. Accordingly, President Trump cannot invoke IEEPA as the statutory basis to unilaterally impose tariffs. If the courts determine that the text of IEEPA does grant the president substantial tariff authority, then it would be an unconstitutional delegation of lawmaking power in violation of the Constitution.
“The Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the power to impose tariffs. The president cannot assume this power for himself, and Congress can’t transfer that legislative authority to him,” said Molly Nixon, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “The uncertainty many Americans are experiencing shows why the Constitution gives the power to make laws to the representative and deliberative branch of government.”
Stonemaier is joined by fellow board game companies XYZ Game Labs, Rookie Mage, Spielcraft, and TinkerHouse Games. They’re also joined by Princess Awesome (a clothing company), Quent Cordair Fine Art (an art studio), KingSeal (a kitchen supply company), Mischief Toy Store, and 300 Below (a cryogenic processing company). These companies are fighting for a refund of the tariffs they’ve already paid and to protect themselves and thousands of other American small businesses from unconstitutional tariffs.
The case is Princess Awesome & Stonemaier Games, et al. v. Customs, filed in the Court of International Trade.
Similar cases have also been filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance in the Northern District of Florida, Tranel Law in District of Montana, and Liberty Justice Center in the Court of International Trade.