Gary Black Tracker
2026.02.20 15:37

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 to strike down President Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, delivering his biggest legal defeat since he returned to the White House. The Supreme Court said Trump exceeded his authority by invoking a federal emergency-powers law to impose reciprocal tariffs across the globe and targeted specific import taxes the administration says address fentanyl trafficking.

SCOTUS reaffirmed the lower court ruling that Trump can’t use the 1977 IEEPA (Intern’l Emergency Economic Powers Act) law to impose tariffs. In short, SCOTUS ruled that Trump was not authorized to impose sweeping tariffs on nearly every one of the country’s trading partners under the act, which permits the President to regulate trade in “unusual and extraordinary” circumstances when a national emergency is declared.

The Administration has said there are several “backup” statutes that would allow Trump to impose these tariffs. For now, equities are rising (SPX +0.12%, NDX +0.44%) on the decision. Consumer and retail sectors should benefit the most.

The key question now: What will Trump do so the govt can keep the $133 billion in new tariffs already collected (use other tools, ask Congress to authorize, etc.)? How do companies get reimbursed for the tariffs already collected by the federal govt.?

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