US Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump's Global Tariffs: Authority Exceeded

The US Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump exceeded his authority in imposing a series of tariffs that disrupted global trade. The decision effectively nullifies the primary instrument Trump used to enforce his economic agenda.

As reported by AFP on Saturday (21/2/2026), the conservative-majority high court ruled by a vote of six to three, stating that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) “does not authorise the President to impose tariffs.”

Although Trump had long wielded tariffs as leverage for pressure and negotiation, he used emergency economic powers in an unprecedented manner after returning to the presidency last year to impose new duties on virtually all US trading partners.

These included “reciprocal” tariffs on trade practices Washington deemed unfair, alongside a series of separate duties targeting key partners Mexico, Canada and China over illegal drug flows and immigration.

On Friday (20/2), the Court noted that “had Congress intended to convey the distinct and extraordinary power to impose tariffs” through IEEPA, “it would have done so explicitly, as it has consistently done in other tariff legislation.”

The ruling does not affect sector-specific duties that Trump separately imposed on imports of steel, aluminium and various other goods. Formal investigations that could ultimately lead to further such sectoral tariffs remain ongoing.

The Supreme Court’s decision affirms earlier findings by lower courts that tariffs imposed by Trump under IEEPA were unlawful.

A lower trade court had ruled in May that Trump exceeded his authority with the sweeping imposition of duties and blocked most of them from taking effect, though that outcome had been stayed while the government pursued its appeal.