Supreme Court strikes down Trump tariffs in major setback for economic agenda

Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday ruled President Trump does not have the authority to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs on nearly every country under a federal emergency powers law, delivering a significant blow to the president’s signature economic policy.

The high court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. 

It upheld a lower court ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that ruled Mr. Trump’s tariffs were illegal.

The legal battle over Mr. Trump’s tariffs marked the first in which the Supreme Court evaluated the legal merits of one of his second-term policies. The high court has allowed the president to enforce many of his plans temporarily while legal proceedings moved forward, but its decision invalidating Mr. Trump’s global tariffs is so far the most significant loss of his second term.

The Supreme Court is also weighing whether to allow the president to fire officials at independent federal agencies without cause and will hear arguments in April over the legality of Mr. Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship.

While the ruling restricts the president’s ability to use IEEPA to set his sweeping duties, it does not prevent the president from imposing tariffs under different trade authorities. Mr. Trump has already relied on other laws to slap levies on copper, steel and aluminum imports, as well as other products. 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.