we knew tariffs were illegal. the court agreed.
On March 9th, we filed a lawsuit against the federal government to challenge the administration's Section 122 tariffs. Today, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled in our favor.
When Ethan and Ori started Burlap & Barrel nearly 10 years ago, they were carrying spices home from trips to origin in their checked luggage. What began as a small experiment has grown into a social enterprise working with partner farmers in more than 20 countries. Last year alone, Burlap & Barrel sent just under $2 million directly to spice farmers — and both the business and its impact continue to grow.
Our work depends on global agriculture. Spices like black pepper, cinnamon and vanilla simply aren't grown commercially in the United States. Our Herbes de Provence come from Provence. Our sweet, savory Purple Stripe Garlic grows in the northern highlands of Vietnam. These aren't arbitrary supply chains — they're relationships with specific farmers, specific regions and centuries of specialized growing traditions.
When the Section 122 tariffs were announced, we made two promises: we would not raise our prices, and we would not ask our partner farmers to absorb the costs. We filed this lawsuit to protect our ability to keep those promises.
Today's ruling held that Section 122 does not authorize the President to impose these tariffs under current economic conditions — that it's a narrow, time-limited tool meant to address specific balance-of-payments crises, not a mechanism for sweeping worldwide trade restrictions. The court got it right.
"These tariffs created real challenges for our company and for the farmers we partner with around the world. Today's decision helps ensure that businesses like ours are not unfairly burdened by unlawful trade restrictions."
-Ori Zohar, co-founder & co-CEO
"The new Section 122 tariffs directly threatened our business model, as well as our partner farmers and home cook and professional chef customers. That's why we sued. We are grateful to the Liberty Justice Center for representing us completely at zero cost to our company."
-Ethan Frisch, co-founder & co-CEO
We were the first independent food company to file suit against these tariffs, and we're proud to have seen it through. We're deeply grateful to the Liberty Justice Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public-interest law firm, who took our case at no cost to us.
No matter what happens next, our mission stays the same: pay farmers more, bring the best spices in the world to kitchens across the United States, and build a more equitable spice trade.
If this work matters to you, we'd be grateful if you helped share the story.