Will County businesses are unlikely to see relief from tariffs any time soon, despite the Supreme Court striking down President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Feb. 20.

In 2025, coffee shops, craft breweries and construction businesses experienced increased and fluctuating supply costs, which often hit consumers’ wallets.

Cheryl Lee, past president of the Northern Illinois Home Builders Association and president of CL Design-Build Inc., a custom homebuilder in the western suburbs, including Plainfield, said tariffs only exacerbate the current housing affordability crisis.

Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, the Trump administration “still has broad authority over trade policy and tariff-driven material costs,” Lee said.

And these directly affect local builders, suppliers and small businesses, she said.

“By now, most people know that tariffs impact numerous raw building materials and components, ranging from lumber, steel and aluminum to home appliances, that are sourced from nations across the globe,” Lee said.

“These added costs pass from manufacturers through distributors and builders and ultimately to consumers, driving up the price of new homes and remodeling projects,” she said.

According to the National Association of Home Builders’ April 2025 member survey, tariffs added $10,900 to a new home’s average cost.

The higher cost deters buyers, causing “a ripple effect” in the construction industry: reduced demand halts new construction, often resulting in subcontractors losing their primary income source, Lee said.

Small firms and independent contractors “are essential” to home construction, she said.

“Building a standard single-family home typically requires an average of 22 to 24 different subcontractors,” she said. “While the number of firms – subcontractors – is around two dozen, the total number of individual people, including employees, laborers and site supervisors, can range from roughly 25 to over 50 additional people throughout the construction process.“

Lee said that number also does not include “architects, engineers, interior designers, surveyors and material suppliers such as lumber yards, lighting showrooms, plumbing supply houses.”

“I stand with the National Association of Home Builders as they urge the administration to exempt essential building materials from any tariff strategy in order to support local business and preserve housing affordability,” she said.

According to the Brewers Association, the recent Supreme Court ruling “only covers tariffs imposed using the IEEP (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) as their basis for authority” and not tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum under other statutes.

Steel and aluminum are materials used in the brewing industry. One common use of aluminum is packaging for soda and beer cans.

The Illinois Craft Breweries Guild said Illinois has 300 craft breweries. Will County has breweries in Joliet, Lockport, Plainfield, New Lenox and Shorewood.

Tariffs’ impact on coffee is more complicated.

Daniel Bednarz, owner of Gost Coffee in New Lenox, said in 2025 that tariffs could impact the price of coffee for countries that produce robusta coffee.

But the main problem for people who purchase and sell arabica coffee grown in Central America and South America was climate change, Bednarz previously said.

That situation might be improving.

“Brazil had amazing growing weather for coffee, and future prices for coffee have been dropping to lows that haven’t been seen in over a year,” Bednarz said.

And tariffs? Bednarz said, “It’s too early to see what action the current administration will take in the longer term.”

“Like everything, time will tell...meaningful change is hard, is long process,” Bednarz said. “It takes patience and hope that all these decisions are for the greater good.”