Supreme Court ruling on Trump’s tariffs ‘saved a lot of small businesses in Arizona,’ AG Mayes says

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes considered Friday a victory for families and businesses around the state after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump’s tariffs imposed through an emergency-powers law unconstitutional.

“All year, Americans have watched prices climb and wondered if anyone in power was going to do anything about it. We did something about it,” Mayes said in a statement. “This case was about more than just tariffs or economic policy. It was about the rule of law and American democracy.”

Mayes added Arizona to a multistate lawsuit against these tariffs last April and verbally presented her case for their unconstitutionality to the Supreme Court last November. The ruling included the sweeping “reciprocal” taxes, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), that Trump had been placed on a plethora of countries in early 2025.

Now that the 6-3 decision officially asserted Congress’ power over taxation, Mayes said Friday on KTAR News’ Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos the state’s entire economy may have been saved.

“We may have saved Trump from Trump, I guess, but really we saved America from Trump, and that’s what’s important,” Mayes said. “We took this pressure off of consumers, on everyday families who were having to pay prices for lettuce and hamburger that were sometimes 18 to 19% higher than normal.”

The attorney general called the tariffs and their scope “insane from the jump” and that this ruling doesn’t just provide Americans protection now but is precedent for any future president.

While the sweeping taxes were in place, Mayes said Trump “essentially stole $1,300 from each Arizona family and he should give it back.”

“That is not how our system works.”

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes reacts to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Friday ruling that President Trump’s sweeping tariffs are unconstitutional. pic.twitter.com/pM2YQ1zVSk

— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) February 21, 2026

She added that this fight may persist into the form of another joint lawsuit because people are also due their money back.

“We are in uncharted waters. We’ve never had this situation where our president illegally impose tariffs on the American people,” Mayes said.

She said she is not sure about the possibility of tax refunds on the family level but that businesses “are due refunds” since the tariffs directly affected them.

“They had to pay for these tariffs and then they passed that on to consumers in the form of what was essentially a tax,” Mayes said. “It’s a mess, but the good news is we stopped these tariffs and I’m really proud of my team. Arizona co-led this lawsuit with Oregon and not everybody believed in us at the beginning.”

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