In a 6–3 ruling, the high court rejects President Donald Trump’s reliance on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, wiping out broad import duties and signaling limits on unilateral trade authority.
The Supreme Court on Friday struck down former President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, delivering a significant setback to a core pillar of his economic and geopolitical strategy.
In a 6–3 decision, the conservative-led court ruled that Trump lacked clear congressional authorization to impose across-the-board import duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the 1977 statute he cited as the legal basis for the tariffs.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority and joined by Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch as well as the court’s three liberal justices, concluded that the president’s asserted authority to impose tariffs of “unlimited amount, duration, and scope” required explicit congressional approval.
“The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Roberts wrote. “He must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.”
The court found that IEEPA “falls short” of granting such sweeping trade authority.
