Supreme court rules Trump's tariffs illegal

The ruling is a major blow to the US president.

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Trump said the decision was 'deeply disappointing' and vowed to impose a new 10% global tariff under a different statute The US supreme court yesterday ruled that many of Donald Trump’s tariffs were illegal, ina sharp rebuke that topples a key pillar of the president’s aggressive economic agenda.

Ina 6-3 ruling, the court decided that a 1977 law designed to address national emergencies did not provide the legal justification for most of the Trump administration’s tariffs on countries across the world. Itis the first time the court has overruled one of Trump’ssecond-term policies.

Ina press conference last night, a visibly angry Trump claimed that the supreme court had been “swayed by foreign interests”. During a rambling address, he said the ruling was “deeply disappointing” and that he was “absolutely ashamed” by the justices who ruled against him, adding that judges who dissented had done the nationa great service.

Trump said other “great alternatives” to the tariffs would be used, and immediately announced a 10% global tariff on top of the other tariffs, citing Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act.

The ruling was a significant blow to one of Trump’s boldest assertions of executive power since his return to the White House. He has used tariffs toreshape US trade policy, upending decades ofagreementsand collecting tens of billions of dollars from companies importing foreign goods.

Tariffs typically need to be approved by Congress, which under the constitution has sole authority tolevy taxes.

Trumpargued that he had theright to impose tariffs on trading partners under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which in some circumstances grants the president authority to regulate or prohibit international transactions during a national emergency. But in its majority opinion, the court said the ability to enact tariffs during peacetime did in fact belong to Congress.