Supreme Court rules against Trump's tariffs
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 20 Feb 2026
(Sharecast News) - The US Supreme Court ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump's global tariffs are illegal.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion: "The Government reads IEEPA to give the President power to unilaterally impose unbounded tariffs and change them at will.
"That view would represent a transformative expansion of the President's authority over tariff policy."
Enacted in 1977, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) gives the President economic tools to address significant foreign threats.
Roberts said it was telling that in IEEPA's half century of existence, no President had invoked the statute to impose any tariffs, "let alone tariffs of this magnitude and scope".
The lack of a historical precedent, "coupled with the breadth of authority that the President now claims, suggests that the tariffs extend beyond" Trump's "legitimate reach", Roberts said.
The Supreme Court's justices voted 6-3 that Trump did not have the authority to impose tariffs under IEEPA, with justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh dissenting.
According to CNN, Trump called the Supreme Court's decision a "disgrace" at a White House breakfast meeting with US governors on Friday morning.
Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone, noted that the tariffs imposed by Trump using the IEEPA account for roughly half of the rise in the overall average effective tariff rate seen since the president returned to office. He said they chiefly concern those levies that were imposed on a 'reciprocal' basis, as well as those levied on China, Canada, and Mexico regarding 'fentanyl supply'.
"Though the IEEPA tariffs have been struck down, there are at least five other sections of US commerce law which the Admin can lean upon in order to re-implement similar measures," he said.
"While these measures, by and large, require either Congressional approval, an investigation by the Commerce Department, or are in some way time-limited, there are likely enough alternative methods that the Admin can employ to ensure that the overall average tariff rate remains little changed, at around 16%, once the dust settles. We, of course, await clarity from the Admin as to their exact plans on this front."
ING pointed out that the tariffs implemented under the IEEPA had generated roughly $133bn in duties by the end of last year.
"The decision removes one of Trump's fastest tools for imposing broad tariffs," it said.
"However, the question about possible refunds remains open for now and will be decided by lower courts in the coming months. The US Court of International Trade will ultimately manage that process, and refunds won't come automatically, as any importer that wants its money back must sue individually. This process has already kicked off, with over 1,000 corporate entities now involved in a legal fight."
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