The Supreme Court delivered a major blow to President Donald Trump, ruling Friday that he exceeded his authority when imposing sweeping tariffs using a law reserved for a national emergency.
The justices, divided 6-3, held that Trump's aggressive approach to tariffs on products entering the United States from across the world was not permitted under a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The ruling invalidates many, but not all, of Trump’s tariffs.
Speaking at the White House, Trump harshly criticized the Supreme Court majority, describing the decision as a "disgrace to our" nation and the justices in the majority as "very unpatriotic and disloyal to the Constitution," while suggesting they were "swayed by foreign interests." Trump's ability to impose tariffs using other laws is not affected by the ruling, and Trump said he plans to use those authorities to impose new duties on a global basis. He said he will soon implement a 10% global tariff, which would be a reduction for nearly all foreign nations.
The right ruling by SCOTUS in my opinion. The law that Trump was using to impose his tariffs is only good for 'emergencies'--that's pretty clearly stated in the Constitution. And to be fair, Trump's big mouth and sheer recklessness made it even harder for SCOTUS to rule in his favor. But Trump being Trump, he probably thought Justices Alito, Thomas and his 3 handpicked Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett, would be 'loyal' by ruling for him and he'd get a pass--well, that obviously didn't turn out to be the case. And good for them, as the justices are sworn to abide by the Constitution and nothing else. That being said, it's clear that many on Trump's team (esp. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent) were already prepared for a defeat and within a few hours of the decision it was announced that the tariffs will remain in place, but under a different law. On another note, it sure will be interesting to see which justices show up for Trump's SOTU address next week.
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