As courts continue to weigh the fate of the Trump Administration’s tariff policy, a Burlington-based women’s cycling apparel company stands at the center of the ongoing legal squabble, along with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.
Terry Precision Cycling, or Terry Cycling, was one of five small businesses that sued President Donald Trump and his administration in the U.S. Court of International Trade in April. The lawsuit prompted a ruling from a panel of three federal judges that struck down most of the president’s tariffs on Wednesday.
Nik Holm, president of Terry Cycling, said that the Vermont company decided to fight against the administration’s trade policy after recognizing that the tariffs were “an existential threat,” to its business.
“We’re a company that reacts. We’re a direct to consumer company, so we kind of see changes pretty quickly and respond to them,” Holm said. “We raised our hand.”
The small business lawsuit dovetailed with a separate complaint filed in the same court also last month by Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark and the attorneys general of 11 other states.
Both suits argue that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when, in a series of executive orders this year, he invoked emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs on imported goods from almost all countries.
Wednesday’s ruling, which applies to both cases jointly, favored that argument, blocking most of the administration’s tariffs, including those that the president declared on goods from Canada and Mexico earlier this year.
The Trump Administration has already appealed the decision, asking an appellate court to block the injunction against the tariffs. Late Thursday afternoon, the court complied, temporarily pausing enforcement of Wednesday’s ruling.
According to Holm, Terry Cycling was one of two companies in the case that convincingly demonstrated it had been harmed by the Trump Administration’s tariffs, making it instrumental in Wednesday’s decision and the ongoing legal dispute.
The company was founded in upstate New York almost half a century ago and sells women’s cycling gear and apparel, from helmets and saddles to shorts and tops.
In 2009, the company relocated to Vermont when former Vermont Teddy Bear CEO Liz Robert purchased a majority stake. Since then, the business has been acquired by the Flagg Cycling Group, a family of cycling-oriented companies — though Terry Cycling has remained in the Queen City.
According to the complaint, the company imports finished goods from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Italy and the Philippines and sources fabrics and other materials from several other countries, the complaint said.
As a result of the tariffs, the company had already paid an additional $25,000 by mid April and was projecting the cost to climb to $250,000 by the end of the year. For 2026, the suit says, the company would be paying about $1.2 million in levies.
“We saw this as a big existential threat,” Holm said.
Terry Cycling is far from alone. Companies in Vermont and across the country have sounded alarms about the impacts of the tariffs — and their spastic rollout — have had on business.
“This is a huge victory,” said Attorney General Clark in an interview. “The tariffs have had a significant impact on the economy in this country, on the sense of predictability for businesses, and our stock market, so I’m proud to have been a part of the coalition to have brought this lawsuit in the first place.”
