The Supreme Court delivered a significant setback to President Donald Trump on Friday, ruling that he exceeded his constitutional authority when imposing broad tariffs under emergency powers legislation.
The justices voted 6-3 that Trump's tariff approach violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law governing presidential emergency authority over economic matters.
Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, joined by three liberal justices and two conservative colleagues, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.
Roberts stated: "The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration and scope." He noted that the Trump administration "points to no statute" in which Congress previously authorized IEEPA language to apply to tariffs.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito dissented.
The decision marks a rare Supreme Court defeat for the Trump administration, which has faced minimal judicial obstacles during its second term despite the court's 6-3 conservative majority.
The ruling's scope is limited. Tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum under different statutory authority remain intact. However, the decision invalidates two major tariff categories: country-specific "reciprocal" tariffs ranging from 34 percent for China to 10 percent baseline rates for other nations, and a 25 percent tariff on selected Canadian, Chinese, and Mexican goods justified by fentanyl trafficking concerns.
Trump retains the option to reimpose the struck-down tariffs under alternative legal authorities.
