Ruling says president overstepped his authority by imposing duties without explicit approval from Congress
\n WASHINGTON
\nThe US Supreme Court struck down on Friday President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs that he pursued under a law meant for use in national emergencies, rejecting one of his most contentious assertions of his authority in a ruling with major implications for the global economy.
\nThe justices, in a 6-3 ruling authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, upheld a lower court\u2019s decision that the Republican president\u2019s use of this 1977 law exceeded his authority.
\nThe court ruled that the Trump administration\u2019s interpretation that the law at issue \u2014 the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA \u2014 grants Trump the power he claims to impose tariffs would intrude on the powers of Congress and violate a legal principle called the \u201cmajor questions\u201d doctrine.
\nThe doctrine, embraced by the conservative justices, requires actions by the government\u2019s executive branch of \u201cvast economic and political significance\u201d to be clearly authorised by Congress. The court used the doctrine to stymie some of Democratic former President Joe Biden\u2019s key executive actions.
\nRoberts, citing a prior Supreme Court ruling, wrote that \u201cthe president must \u2018point to clear congressional authorisation\u2019 to justify his extraordinary assertion of the power to impose tariffs,\u201d adding: \u201cHe cannot.\u201d
\nTrump has leveraged tariffs \u2014 taxes on imported goods \u2014 as a key economic and foreign policy tool. They have been central to a global trade war that Trump initiated after he began his second term as president, one that has alienated trading partners, affected financial markets and caused global economic uncertainty.
\nThe Supreme Court reached its conclusion in a legal challenge by businesses affected by the tariffs and 12 US states, most of them Democratic-governed, against Trump\u2019s unprecedented use of this law to unilaterally impose the import taxes.
\nThe three dissenting justices were conservatives Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh. Joining Roberts in the majority were conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, both of whom Trump appointed during his first term in office, along with the three liberal justices.
\nThe Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, previously had backed Trump in a series of other decisions issued on an emergency basis since he returned to the presidency in January 2025 after his policies were impeded by lower courts.
\nTrump\u2019s tariffs were forecast to generate over the next decade trillions of dollars in revenue for the United States, which possesses the world\u2019s largest economy.
\nTrump\u2019s administration has not provided tariff collection data since December 14. But Penn-Wharton Budget Model economists estimated on Friday that the amount collected in Trump\u2019s tariffs based on IEEPA stood at more than $175 billion. And that amount likely would need to be refunded with a Supreme Court ruling against the IEEPA-based tariffs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ruling says president overstepped his authority by imposing duties without explicit approval from Congress WASHINGTON The US Supreme Court struck down on Friday President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs that he pursued under a law meant for use in national emergencies, rejecting one of his most contentious assertions of his authority in a ruling with major […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-532432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n