Supreme Court strikes down Trump's tariffs

NPR News · Feb 20, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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The U.S. Supreme Court Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Andrew Harnik/Getty Images The U.S. Supreme Court said President Trump's tariffs policies under IEEPA, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, are unconstitutional, dealing a major blow to the president's signature economic policy. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 6-3 opinion. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. At issue in the case was the implementation of Trump's campaign pledge to impose massive tariffs on foreign imports. After his inauguration, Trump issued an executive order that initially imposed a tariff of at least 10% on goods from most countries doing business with the United States. Goods from countries like China have been hit with much higher tariffs — up to 145%, though they have since come down. Imports from allies like Canada and Mexico have been taxed at 25%; Canada's rate was later increased to 35%. But the up-and-down, fluctuating tariffs around the world spooked American businesses, prompting a court challenge, contending that the president had exceeded his authority in imposing the tariffs. In some two dozen previous cases, the Supreme Court has been largely receptive to Trump's claims of presidential authority, but those victories came on the Supreme Court's emergency docket, allowing Trump policies to take effect on a temporary basis while the litigation played out in the lower courts. In contrast, the tariff cases are the real deal, with the court having ordered full briefing and expedited arguments in the case, and offering the justices the first real opportunity to say "no" to the president. On Friday, the justices did just that. This is a developing story and will be updated.