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Ohio comic shop owner carries $16,000 in tariff costs with no refund in sight

Ohio comic shop owner carries $16,000 in tariff costs with no refund in sight
  • Marc Bowker, owner of Alter Ego Comics in Lima, Ohio, has paid more than $16,000 in tariffs since Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs took effect and expects to recover none of it.
  • The Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose many tariffs was illegal, opening a refund process for more than $160 billion in collected revenue.
  • Bowker's distributor, Sideshow Collectibles, paid U.S. Customs and Border Protection directly and told Bowker it has not received money back; the company did not respond to NPR's request for comment.
  • Comics Bowker sells are primarily imported from Canada and are not yet subject to new tariffs, but an escalating U.S.–Canada trade war could change that.
 2026-08-30 · 4 MIN READ

Congress weighs bipartisan Social Security fixes ahead of 2032 deadline

Congress weighs bipartisan Social Security fixes ahead of 2032 deadline
  • Congress is publicly weighing bipartisan Social Security proposals as the program's trust fund faces projected exhaustion in 2032 with automatic 22% benefit cuts.
  • Sens. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are jointly proposing elimination of the Social Security payroll-tax cap, which currently ends at $184,500 in wages.
  • Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and a separate bipartisan Senate group are backing bills that would create advisory commissions with expedited votes on solvency plans.
  • Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he wants "the public to see, like, we're not sleepwalking here" and that lawmakers have "got to now convert it into action."
 2026-08-30 · 3 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Canada targets US household goods in new tariffs as 50% auto duties loom