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By Diego Ramos / Original to ScheerPost
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump was not authorized to implement tariffs through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. The tariffs set last year taxed imported goods from more than 100 countries and ostensibly aimed to increase domestic manufacturing.
“The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
“The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope. In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it,” Roberts wrote.
Roberts also cites Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, which affirms Congress’ ability and power to impose taxes and tariffs.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Brett M. Kavanaugh dissented from a decision the Trump administration says will have major ramifications for the U.S. economy.
Although the majority did not address how this decision could affect trade deals and potential refunds, Trump already said in a January 2026 Truth Social post that if the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs, “The actual numbers that we would have to pay back if… would be many Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and that doesn’t include the amount of ‘payback’ that Countries and Companies would require for the Investments they are making on building Plants, Factories, and Equipment, for the purpose of being able to avoid the payment of Tariffs.”
According to a New York Times report, “the administration would move quickly to replace any emergency tariffs invalidated by the court with other levies. The president has already used other statutes to set tariffs, including national security-related ones on some specific goods and industries.”
Dissenting Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote, “The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers. But that process is likely to be a ‘mess,’ as was acknowledged at oral argument.”
The precedent of the 1977 IEEPA saw past presidents place sanctions or embargoes on countries in order to “deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat” to “the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States.” The Trump administration has argued that this same language allows them to levy tariffs.
According to the Times report, “A dozen states and a group of small businesses, including an educational toy manufacturer and a wine importer, sued over the tariffs, saying the president had unlawfully infringed on Congress’s power under the Constitution to impose taxes. The businesses, which rely on imported goods, argued in court filings that the tariffs had disrupted their operations and led to higher prices for consumers and cutbacks in staffing.”
AP News reports, “The economic impact of Trump’s tariffs has been estimated at some $3 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Treasury has collected more than $133 billion from the import taxes the president has imposed under the emergency powers law, federal data from December shows.”
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Diego Ramos
Diego Ramos, ScheerPost Special Projects Editor and New York bureau chief, is a journalist from Queens, NY. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has previously worked at BuzzFeed News and was managing editor of Annenberg News at USC. He’s covered and researched myriad topics including war, politics, psychedelic research and sports.