By their own admission, Grand Avenue toy store owners Millie Adelsheim and Dan Marshall have never filed a lawsuit before, let alone one aimed at pausing international tariffs. Suing the White House struck them as an ambitious but appropriate place to start.

“We estimate about 85% of our toys are impacted by Trump’s 145% tariffs,” said Adelsheim and Marshall, the husband-and-wife co-owners of the Mischief Toy Store, in an open letter Friday explaining how they’ve been thrust into the front lines of an international trade war. “Every day, we’re getting notices of price increases from our suppliers. Several have left the US market altogether and many others have paused production. As a country we will be seeing huge price increases and shortages on every kind of consumer product — not just toys — in the near future.”

With the financial future of their shop and their industry on the line, Mischief Toy Store has joined with Stonemaier Games and four other board game manufacturers, a children’s clothing company called Princess Awesome, a metal treating company and an importer of fine art to file legal action against the U.S. government in an effort to roll back international tariffs recently imposed by the Trump administration.

The lawsuit — “Princess Awesome & Stonemaier Games, et al. v. Customs” — was filed Thursday in the U.S. Court of International Trade in Manhattan, with the 10 plaintiffs represented, free of charge, by the Pacific Legal Foundation, a non-profit Libertarian law firm.

‘A somewhat strange partnership’

Around St. Paul, Adelsheim and Marshall are known for backing progressive causes, making the group effort “a somewhat strange partnership for us. While we may disagree on other issues, we are all in full agreement on the need to check Trump’s abuses of power. He is not a king and we cannot allow him to act like one.”

The plaintiffs argue that the U.S. Constitution grants Congress, and not the president, the power to impose financial tariffs on foreign countries, and that the tariffs will be financially devastating to their businesses and industries. On Feb. 1, the president imposed tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, citing the need to address illegal immigration and fentanyl importation. On April 2, he expanded the tariffs to almost every country, calling trade imbalances a national emergency that empowered him to take unilateral action.

He later paused most of those tariffs for 90 days, allowing time to renegotiate trade deals. While certain Trump policies have gained a following with segments of the American public, about 6-in-10 Americans polled have said they disapprove of the tariffs, according to the Pew Research Center, and a majority of the population has taken a skeptical view of the president’s overall handling of the economy.

Marshall, in an interview Friday, said kids aren’t playing with analog toys as much as they used to, given growing interest in video and digital pastimes. For some vendors and suppliers, the tariffs will be a final nail in the coffin.

“We source American-made toys as much as we can, and one of our American suppliers is going out of business — Two Bros Bows,” he said. “Kids don’t play with analog toys like they used to, and they’re not buying American. We’re the last toy store in St. Paul. If all those things go up by 200%, it’s going to be really hard to stay in business.”

Board game company

Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Stonemaier works with Chinese firms to manufacture the popular card-driven board game “Wingspan,” which would be heavily impacted by a 145% tariff on imported products from China.

For the board game company, that amounts to a $14.50 tax for every $10 spent manufacturing the game, which adds up to a looming payment of nearly $1.5 million, according to a written statement from Stonemaier.

“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, in the statement.

Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include XYZ Game Labs, Rookie Mage, Spielcraft and TinkerHouse Games, as well as Quent Cordair Fine Art, the KingSeal kitchen supply company and 300 Below, a cryogenic processing company.

Similar cases

Similar cases have been filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance in the Northern District of Florida, Tranel Law in District of Montana and the Liberty Justice Center in the Court of International Trade, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation.

“This might put us at risk,” wrote Adelsheim and Marshall, the Mischief Toy Store owners, in their open letter Friday. “Who knows how Trump and his minions will respond … We’ll be doing everything we can to keep things as normal as possible.”

The Grand Avenue shop owners were previously associated with Peapods Natural Toys, which closed in 2015 after 16 years in operation in St. Paul.

“We’d also like to make it clear that we’ve always supported American-made toys and we stock them when we can,” they wrote. “Those of you who remember Peapods will know that we specialized in Made in the USA toys, held a Minnesota Toy Fair to promote local toymakers, and even founded the Handmade Toy Alliance to support small batch US toymakers. The steady loss of US and EU toymakers was one of the main reasons we closed Peapods back in 2015. Tariffs cannot and will not reverse this trend.”

Related Articles

St. Paul shooter gets 19½-year prison sentence for killing man on University Avenue who had his back to him

St. Paul chief finance officer John McCarthy leaves for League of MN Cities

MPCA sets May 8 deadline or it may yank St. Paul foundry’s permit

Jim Gelbmann: Our partisan endorsement process is unrepresentative, polarizing and self-serving

History Theatre season includes new musical about the St. Paul Winter Carnival

By The Associated Press

Pope Francis’ image seemed to be everywhere Friday as the world mourned his death in Rome at the age of 88.

Related Articles

How to watch Pope Francis’ funeral: Where to stream and what to expect

Pope’s burial place reflects his ‘humble, essential’ life, Rome’s poor will pay him a final tribute

Negotiations between Iran and the US over Tehran’s nuclear program return to secluded Oman

Nepal marks 10-year anniversary of earthquake that killed thousands

UN food agency says its food stocks in Gaza have run out under Israel’s blockade

Artists created murals and graffiti memorializing him, including one in Buenos Aires, Argentina in which the soccer-loving pontiff is depicted alongside player Lionel Messi.

Vendors in Indonesia sold keychains and fans bearing his image. A message board to the late pope was covered in writings from the Catholic faithful outside a parish in Quezon City, Philippines: “Thank you for the love, compassion and hope,” one message read.

World leaders streamed into Rome for Francis’ funeral on Saturday. The cardinals then will meet in a conclave in the coming weeks to elect his successor.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

The world will bid a final farewell this weekend to Pope Francis, who leaves behind a legacy shaped by his efforts to revitalize the Church—from addressing clerical abuse to expanding dialogue around climate change, migration, and inclusion.

The Argentine pontiff died at the age of 88 on Monday from a stroke that resulted in a coma and irreversible heart failure, according to the Vatican’s top doctors.

It came after Francis —who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed when he was younger — was admitted to Gemelli hospital on February 14, for a respiratory crisis that evolved into double pneumonia. He spent a total of 38 days there before he was released to recover in his apartment, and he made his final public appearance on Easter Sunday, delivering a blessing and greeting followers from his popemobile as he looped around St. Peter’s Square.

Until his funeral this weekend, Francis’ body, adorned in his papal vestments, will lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Here’s how to watch:

When it the Pope’s funeral?

Pope Francis’ funeral is in Vatican City on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time, which means American viewers will have to tune in during the early hours of the morning — 4 a.m. ET, 3 a.m. CT, 2 a.m. MT and 1 a.m. PT — to catch the mass. It is slated to be held in St. Peter’s Square or inside the Basilica, depending on the weather.

Where to watch Pope Francis’ funeral:

The majority of major television network across the United States will be airing the funeral, including, NBC, CBS, CNN and ABC. Some streamers are also slated to air coverage of the service live, among them  Peacock, Paramount+, Disney+ and Hulu.

International viewers should also be able to watch the proceedings with popular broadcasters, like BBC in the United Kingdom as well as Globo News and CNN Brasil in Brazil. And those in Canada should be able to watch on CTV and CBC while Spanish viewers can catch the ceremony on Televisión Española

The Vatican said it will also provide live coverage on  the Vatican’s news channel, which has also been streaming much of the rites this week.

What to expect at the funeral — and who will be in attendance:

The service, which will be led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the college of cardinals, is expected to draw dignitaries from 170 foreign delegations — including at least 50 heads of state and 10 reigning sovereigns — as well as tens of thousands of ordinary people hoping to pay their respects.

Related Articles

Pope’s burial place reflects his ‘humble, essential’ life, Rome’s poor will pay him a final tribute

Donald Trump’s trip to Pope Francis’ funeral puts a sharper focus on their clashes over the years

So you saw ‘Conclave’ the movie. Here’s what it got right – and wrong – about real-life conclaves

About 250,000 mourners pay last respects to Pope Francis over 3 days of public viewing

Pope Francis’ doctor says pontiff died ‘without suffering, at home’

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are slated to be among those in attendance, as are former President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden.

The ceremony on Saturday will begin with a procession, held only after the Pope is sealed inside his coffin on Friday, marking the end of the public viewing period. It will, however, be significantly more humble than those held for popes past; Francis last year simplified the rules for papal funerals and requested a simple wooden casket for his own burial.

What happens after the funeral?

After the mass, the Vatican said the pope’s body “will be taken into St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St. Mary Major,” bout 2.5 miles away. He chose it as his burial site because it is where he prayed before and after each trip out of Rome, as well as in challenging times like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most live coverage will end when the burial begins.

Related Articles

Pope’s burial place reflects his ‘humble, essential’ life, Rome’s poor will pay him a final tribute

Negotiations between Iran and the US over Tehran’s nuclear program return to secluded Oman

Nepal marks 10-year anniversary of earthquake that killed thousands

UN food agency says its food stocks in Gaza have run out under Israel’s blockade

A Russian general was killed by a car bomb just outside Moscow

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

President Donald Trump is badgering the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, but even if the Fed gave in to the pressure, it wouldn’t necessarily lead to lower borrowing costs for consumers.

In fact, economists say, Trump’s ongoing attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his tariff policies could keep the longer-term interest rates that matter for consumers and businesses higher than they otherwise would be. A less-independent Fed can lead, over time, to higher borrowing costs, as investors worry that inflation may spike in the future. As a result they demand higher yields to own Treasury securities.

Trump has repeatedly urged Powell to cut the short-term interest rate that the central bank controls. The Fed typically reduces its rate during an economic downturn to encourage more borrowing and spending, and raises it to cool the economy and fight inflation when prices rise.

But long-term rates on things like mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards are largely set by market forces. And in recent weeks, fears that Trump’s sweeping tariffs could raise inflation, along with the administration’s threats to the Fed’s independence, have led markets to push those longer term rates higher. It’s not clear that the Fed can fully reverse those trends by itself.

“It’s not automatically true that even if the Fed were to cut rates, that you would see a measured decline in long-term interest rates,” Francesco Bianchi, an economist at Johns Hopkins University, said. “This kind of pressure on the Fed might backfire…if markets don’t believe the Fed has inflation under control.”

Trump renewed calls on Wednesday and Thursday for Powell to reduce the Fed’s short-term rate, telling reporters that the chair is “making a mistake” by not doing so.

And last week, Trump suggested he could fire Powell, while a top aide said that the White House was “studying” whether it could do so.

Stock markets plunged in response, the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose, and the dollar fell, an unusual combination that suggested investors were selling most American assets. Markets recovered those losses after Trump said on Tuesday that he had “no intention” of firing the Fed chair.

Still, the threats to the Fed’s independence unnerved Wall Street investors, because they see a Fed free from political pressure as critical to keeping inflation in check. An independent Fed can take unpopular steps, such as raising rates, to fight inflation.

“Threatening the Fed doesn’t soothe markets — it spooks them,” said Lauren Goodwin, chief market strategist at New York Life Investments. “And the result is often the opposite of what any administration wants to see: higher rates, weaker confidence, and more market turmoil.”

Since Trump began imposing tariffs in early March, when he slapped duties on Canada and Mexico, the 10-year Treasury yield has risen from 4.15% to about 4.3%. The yield is a benchmark for mortgage rates and other borrowing. Mortgage rates, in turn, have increased during that time, from 6.6% to 6.8%.

While Trump says he is negotiating over tariffs with many countries, most economists expect some level of duties to remain in place for at least this year, including his 10% duties on nearly all imports.

The 10-year yield did fall Thursday when two Federal Reserve officials said that rate cuts are possible as soon as this summer, should the economy falter and unemployment rise.

Yet last fall, longer-term interest rates also fell in anticipation of rate cuts, but then rose once the Fed cut in September and then continued to rise as the central bank reduced its rate again in November — two days after the election — and in December. Mortgage rates are now higher than they were when the Fed cut.

A range of factors can affect longer-term Treasury rates, including expectations for future growth and inflation, as well as the supply and demand for government bonds. Bianchi worries that stubbornly high government budget deficits — which are financed by trillions of dollars of Treasurys — could also lift long-term rates.

Should the Fed cut rates now, llonger-term borrowing costs “would move in the opposite direction, absolutely,” Goodwin said, “because the threat of inflation is so palpable — that move would call their credibility into question.”

Related Articles

Trump keeps contradicting himself on tariffs, making a fragile world economy nervous

US to loosen rules on Tesla, other carmakers taking on China in race for self-driving cars

Thinking of buying a secondhand phone? Some tips on what to look for

Asked on Reddit: How should I trim my monthly budget?

Wall Street’s rally fades as more CEOs talk about uncertainty because of Trump’s trade war

Trump said in a social media post this week that there is “virtually No Inflation” and as a result, the Fed should lower its key rate, from its current level of about 4.3%. Many economists expect the central bank will do so this year. But Powell has underscored that the central bank wants to evaluate the impact of Trump’s policies before making any moves.

Inflation has fallen in recent months, dropping to 2.4% in March, the lowest level since last September. Yet excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation was 2.8%. Core prices often provide a better signal of where inflation is headed.

A key issue for the Fed is that the economy is very different now than it was during Trump’s first term. Back then inflation was actually below the Fed’s target. At that time, it was a “no-brainer” to cut rates, Bianchi said, if there was a threat of a recession, because inflation wasn’t an issue.

But now, tariffs will almost certainly lift prices in the coming months, at least temporarily. That raises the bar much higher for a Fed rate cut, Bianchi said.

Still, once there are clear signs the economy is deteriorating, such as a rising unemployment rate, the Fed will cut rates, regardless of what Trump does, economists said.

Trump on Monday accused Powell of often being “too late” with his rate decisions, but ironically the Fed may move more slowly this time because of the threat of higher prices from tariffs. Without clear evidence of a downturn, Fed officials would worry about being seen as giving in to political pressure from Trump if they cut.

“Powell knows the irreparable damage that would occur if it was perceived that he cut because he was forced to by Trump,” said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at PGIM Fixed Income.

The Fed now “will be even more delayed because I think you’re going get more of an inflation lift initially, before you get the more pronounced slowing in growth,” Porcelli said.

Either way it may take more than a Fed cut or two to bring down longer-term borrowing costs, Bianchi said.

“To really lower long-term rates you need to provide a stable macroeconomic environment, and right now we are not there yet,” he added.