The Supreme Court of the United States on Friday ruled that President Donald Trump violated federal law by unilaterally imposing sweeping tariffs on multiple countries, delivering a significant setback to his trade policy and signalling wide-ranging implications for the global economy.
Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, with the court deciding 6-3 that the tariffs, which increased duties to as high as 50 per cent on key trading partners including India and Brazil, exceeded statutory authority. Roberts wrote that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorise the president to impose tariffs.
He stated that the president asserted extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration and scope, but added that the administration pointed to no statute in which Congress had previously indicated that the language in IEEPA could apply to tariffs. In light of the breadth, history and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he stated that clear congressional authorisation was required to exercise such power and remarked that any extraordinary assertion of authority demands explicit approval from Congress, which was absent in this instance.
Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch joined Roberts and the three liberal justices in the majority. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. Kavanaugh stated that the court’s ruling said nothing about whether, and if so how, the government should return the billions of dollars collected from importers.
The cases, filed in 2025 and titled Learning Resources v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc., centred on whether IEEPA authorised the Trump administration to implement tariffs through executive orders.
IEEPA, enacted in 1977, grants the president broad authority to regulate economic activity with foreign entities upon declaration of a national emergency, including the ability to block transactions, freeze assets, restrict trade and take other measures in response to extraordinary threats.
Since assuming office in January last year, Trump invoked IEEPA by declaring national emergencies linked to the US trade deficit, illegal immigration and drug trafficking, and imposed tariffs on several trading partners, including India, in an effort to revive the US economy.
The tariffs drew strong criticism, particularly from Democrats, who argued that tariff-setting authority rests with Congress under the US Constitution. Several lower courts had previously ruled that the measures exceeded presidential authority.
The decision is expected to have far-reaching consequences for global trade flows, businesses, consumers, inflation and the financial position of Americans nationwide. The ruling did not clarify how the administration would refund the sums collected through the tariffs.
Ahead of the verdict, economists at the Penn-Wharton Budget Model stated that more than 175 billion dollars in US tariff collections could be at risk of refund if the Supreme Court ruled against Trump.
First Published on February 21, 2026, 10:48:32 IST
