The United States Supreme Court issued a ruling on Friday that brings a sharp halt to President Trump’s trade policy. In a 6-to-3 decision, the justices held that the president exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law reserved for national emergencies.
The decision, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, invalidates a significant portion — though not all — of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. The president retains the ability to reimpose certain tariffs under other legal authorities.
The majority brought together an unusual coalition within a predominantly conservative Court: Chief Justice Roberts was joined by the three liberal justices and two of his fellow conservatives, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito dissented.
In his opinion, Chief Justice Roberts found that the Trump administration could point to no statute authorizing the use of IEEPA to impose tariffs. “The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Roberts wrote, before concluding that “IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.”
What the Decision Changes — and What It Does Not
The ruling does not affect all of the Trump administration’s tariff measures. Duties imposed on steel and aluminum, which rest on separate legal foundations, remain in effect. However, two categories of tariffs are directly invalidated: the so-called “reciprocal” tariffs, applied on a country-by-country basis and ranging from 34% for China to a 10% baseline for the rest of the world, as well as the 25% duties imposed on certain goods from Canada, China, and Mexico, which the administration had justified as part of the fight against fentanyl.
The question of refunds remains unresolved. Companies that paid these duties may seek restitution from the Treasury Department. Hundreds have already filed lawsuits. Justice Kavanaugh, in his dissent, noted that the financial impact could be substantial, observing that the Court “says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers.”
According to the latest available data from U.S. Customs, tariffs imposed under IEEPA had generated approximately $130 billion by mid-December.
Trump’s Reaction
The White House did not issue an immediate official response. However, according to a source close to the president cited by NBC News, Donald Trump called the decision “a disgrace” after being informed of it during a meeting with governors. He also reportedly indicated that he had a backup plan.
Just the day before, the president had publicly expressed concern that the tariffs might be struck down. “Without tariffs, this country would be in such trouble right now,” he said on Thursday.
The U.S. Constitution assigns the power to set tariffs to Congress, not the president. No president before Donald Trump had ever used IEEPA to tax imports. The law allows the president to “regulate” imports and exports when he deems there to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the nation, but it makes no specific mention of tariffs.
In his decision, Chief Justice Roberts invoked the “major questions doctrine,” which holds that Congress must explicitly authorize policies with a major nationwide impact. The same doctrine had been used to block President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. However, that part of the reasoning did not command a majority: the three liberal justices, who had dissented when the Court applied the doctrine in the Biden case, found the tariffs to be unlawful on other grounds.
Companies that had challenged the tariffs in court expressed relief. Victor Schwartz, who heads VOS Selections, a New York-based wine and spirits importer and a party to the lawsuit, said in a statement: “These new tariffs were arbitrary, unpredictable, and bad business. Thankfully, courts at every level recognized these duties for what they were: unconstitutional government overreach.”
The group We Pay the Tariffs, which represents small businesses opposed to the duties, immediately called for a “full, fast and automatic” refund process. Dan Anthony, the group’s executive director, warned that “small businesses cannot afford to wait months or years while bureaucratic delays play out, nor can they afford expensive litigation just to recover money that was unlawfully collected from them in the first place.”
The ruling represents a rare setback for the Trump administration before a Supreme Court that has been largely favorable to it since the start of his second term in January.
Source: NBC News
