WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court delivered a major blow to President Donald Trump on Friday, ruling that most of his tariffs are illegal as he used a law reserved for a national emergency.
The justices issued a 6-3 ruling, saying Trump exceeded his authority when imposing sweeping tariffs, citing a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Trump’s ability to impose tariffs using other laws is not affected by the ruling, and he said he plans to use those authorities to impose new tariffs on a global basis. He said he will soon implement a 10% global tariff, which would be a reduction for nearly all foreign countries.
The ruling was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, who was joined by three liberal justices and two fellow conservatives, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, in striking down Trump’s tariffs.
“The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Roberts wrote.
“The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration and scope,” Roberts wrote. But the Trump administration “points to no statute” in which Congress has previously said that the language in IEEPA could apply to tariffs, he added.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito dissented.
“The tariffs at issue here may or may not be wise policy. But as a matter of text, history, and precedent, they are clearly lawful,” Kavanaugh wrote.
It is a rare setback for the Trump administration at the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, since Trump began his second term in January.
Companies that had to pay the tariffs may be able to seek a refund from the Treasury Department. Hundreds have already sued.
The court did not directly address that issue, but Kavanaugh, in dissent, said the effect on the U.S. Treasury could be significant.
“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,” he wrote.
The White House has said it is prepared to present alternative avenues for imposing the tariffs under different legal authorities.
The Supreme Court’s ruling strikes down 70% of Trump’s global tariffs after they have collected more than $142 billion through December, according to the Yale Budget Lab.
