President Donald Trump announced a 10% global tariff after the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision Friday ruling against his tariff imposition under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977.
Trump called the Supreme Court’s decision “deeply disappointing” and said he was “ashamed” of some Supreme Court justices. He said the 10% global tariff will be signed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Trump also said he would initiate several investigations of unfair trade practices under Section 301 of the Trade Act, pointing to more prohibitive tariffs still.
The invalidated tariff regime included Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which imposed country-specific duties between 10% and 50% on most imports and were mainly targeted at addressing large trade deficits.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court held that the IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. The court emphasized the principle of separation of powers, with tariffs falling under the power of Congress to impose taxes power under Article I, meaning the president has no inherent authority to impose tariffs. The Court stated that taxing exports is expressly forbidden by the Constitution’s Art. I, §9, cl. 5.
While the IEEPA authorizes the President to “investigate, block during the pendency of an investigation, regulate, direct and compel, nullify, void, prevent or prohibit…importation or exportation,” neither tariffs nor duties were mentioned in this list of specific powers. Justice Roberts wrote that “had Congress intended to convey the distinct and extraordinary power to impose tariffs, it would have done so expressly.”
The Court did not invalidate IEEPA on nondelegation grounds. Rather, it decided the case on statutory interpretation by applying the major question doctrine, which is a legal principle that mandates that Congress provide clear, explicit authorization before the executive branch takes action of vast political and economic significance. The court wrote that emergencies can afford a ready pretext for the “usurpation” of congressional power and that Congress would undoubtedly use “clear language to effectuate unbounded decisions.” At the end of the day, Trump could not show that he had clear congressional authorization to impose the tariffs.
Trump said “now I’m going to go in a different direction, probably the direction I should have gone the first time.” While the court struck down imposing tariffs through the IEEPA, other methods, such as the Trade Act of 1974, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and the Tariff Act of 1930, remain available for Trump.
