The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down President Trump's global tariffs that he pursued in early 2025.
The justices, in a 6-3 ruling authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, upheld a lower court's decision that the president's use of this 1977 law exceeded his authority, reported Reuters.
Although it's been reported that the Trump administration has not provided tariffs collection data since December 14, 2025, Penn-Wharton Budget Model economists estimated that the amount collected in Trump's tariffs, based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, are more than $175 billion. That amount likely would need to be refunded with a Supreme Court ruling against the IEEPA-based tariffs, according to Reuters.
“The U.S. Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the authority to issue taxes and tariffs. But Trump instead turned to a statutory authority by invoking IEEPA to impose the tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner without the approval of Congress. Trump has imposed some additional tariffs under other laws that are not at issue in this case. Based on government data from October to mid-December, those represent about a third of the revenue from Trump-imposed tariffs,” Reuters wrote.
After the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in November, Trump said he would consider alternatives if it ruled against him on tariffs, telling reporters that "we'll have to develop a 'game two' plan."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other administration officials said the United States would invoke other legal justifications to retain as many of Trump's tariffs as possible. Among others, these include a statutory provision that permits tariffs on imported goods that threaten U.S. national security and another that allows retaliatory actions including tariffs against trading partners that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative determines have used unfair trade practices against American exporters.
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives voted to block President Trump’s tariffs on Canada.