United States President Donald Trump faces a major setback as the Supreme Court of the United States on Friday struck down his sweeping tariff measures imposed under a law designed for national emergencies, a ruling with far-reaching consequences for the global economy.
The justices, in a 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, affirmed a lower court’s judgment that Trump exceeded his authority by invoking a 1977 statute to justify the tariffs.
In the 170-page ruling, Roberts stated that the president “falls short” of the legal threshold required to impose the tariffs under the cited law.
At the center of the dispute was the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which the Trump administration argued granted the president broad authority to impose tariffs during national emergencies. However, the court rejected that interpretation, warning that it would encroach on Congress’s constitutional powers and breach the “major questions” doctrine.
The doctrine, frequently relied upon by the court’s conservative majority, holds that executive actions of vast economic and political significance must be clearly authorized by Congress. The court has previously invoked the principle to block key executive initiatives by former President Joe Biden.
Citing earlier precedent, Roberts wrote that “the president must point to clear congressional authorization” to justify such an extraordinary assertion of power, concluding that Trump failed to do so.
On April 2, a date he dubbed “Liberation Day,” Trump had unveiled what he described as “reciprocal” tariffs targeting goods imported from most U.S. trading partners. The Supreme Court’s decision now effectively nullifies that move, reinforcing limits on presidential authority over trade policy.
