US Supreme Court rules Trump's emergency tariffs unlawful

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (KUNA) -- The Supreme Court of the United States ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump unlawfully invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping unilateral tariffs on most US trading partners.
According to Fox News, the decision was issued in a 6-3 ruling, effectively invalidating the tariffs Trump imposed under the 1977 emergency law.
The Court had heard oral arguments in November regarding Trump's use of the statute to enforce what he described as "Liberation Day" tariffs on most countries, including a global 10 percent tariff and higher so-called "reciprocal" tariffs on specific nations.
The justices determined that the president exceeded his authority by applying a law intended for national emergencies to broadly impose tariffs. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the opinion, joined by three liberal justices and two conservative members of the Court.
In the ruling, Roberts wrote that "the president insists he possesses extraordinary authority to impose tariffs of unlimited value, duration, and scope," adding that the Trump administration "has not identified any statute in which Congress authorized the application of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to tariffs." The decision does not affect all tariffs imposed by Trump. Duties on steel and aluminum enacted under separate statutes remain in place. However, the ruling nullifies two categories of tariffs: the "reciprocal" tariffs, which ranged from 34 percent on China to a baseline 10 percent on other countries, and the 25 percent tariffs on certain goods from Canada, China, and Mexico, which Trump justified by citing their alleged failure to curb the flow of fentanyl.
On November 10, Trump warned via his social media platform Truth Social that the US government could be required to return more than USD 2 trillion in tariff revenues and related investments if the Court struck down the measures, calling such a scenario "a catastrophe for national security." Following the ruling, the Trump administration may be required to refund portions of the collected tariffs to foreign companies, and foreign governments and firms that invested in the United States in exchange for tariff exemptions could pursue reimbursement claims. (end) rsr.aa