In a major blow to former President Donald Trump's economic agenda, the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down his administration's far-reaching use of tariffs as an instrument of foreign policy. The 6-3 ruling, authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, decisively rejected Trump's attempt to unilaterally impose sweeping import duties, declaring it an unconstitutional overreach of executive authority.
What this really means is a significant reassertion of Congressional power over trade and taxation - a core check on the presidency that the Trump White House had sought to sidestep. The court found that the 1977 law Trump invoked, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), simply does not grant the president such broad tariff-setting abilities.
A Stinging Rebuke of Trump's Signature Policy
This ruling delivers a major rebuke of one of Trump's signature economic policies from his second term. As CNBC reports, the former president had made tariffs a central part of his trade agenda, using them to aggressively renegotiate deals and punish perceived adversaries.
The bigger picture here is that the Supreme Court has reasserted itself as a check on the executive branch after a period where it often deferred to Trump's expansive view of presidential power. As Reuters notes, the court sided with the former president in over two dozen cases last year, boosting his ability to transform U.S. policies.
But the tariffs ruling shows the justices are willing to rein in the president's authority when they believe it exceeds constitutional bounds - a crucial safeguard against the concentration of power. This decision will likely embolden future legal challenges to expansive executive actions, whether by Trump or any other president.
Of course, the former president has vowed to find new ways to impose tariffs, raising the specter of a protracted battle. But for now, this landmark Supreme Court ruling stands as a significant check on one of Trump's key economic policies.