President Donald Trump imposed Friday an additional 10 percent tariff on imports into the United States after the Supreme Court struck down many of his sweeping and often arbitrary duties, delivering a stinging rebuke on his signature economic policy.Trump signed the tariff order in the Oval Office — saying on social media it was “effective almost immediately” — after he spent the past year imposing various rates spontaneously to cajole and punish countries, both friend and foe.
The conservative-majority high court ruled six to three Friday that a 1977 law Trump has relied on to slap sudden rates on individual countries, upending global trade, “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”Trump, who had nominated two of the justices who repudiated him, responded furiously, alleging without any evidence that the court was influenced by foreign interests.
I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” Trump told reporters.”In order to protect our country, a president can actually charge more tariffs than I was charging in the past,” Trump said, insisting that the ruling left him “more powerful.”Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, addressing the Economic Club of Dallas, said the alternative method “will result in virtually unchanged tariff revenue in 2026.”
Major setbackThe ruling did not impact sector-specific duties Trump separately imposed on steel, aluminum and various other goods. Government probes still underway could lead to additional sectoral tariffs
Still, it marked Trump’s biggest defeat at the Supreme Court since returning to the White House 13 months ago. The court has generally expanded his power. In a controversial decision before the 2024 election it ruled in Trump v. United States that he was immune from prosecution for “official acts” during his first term, when he refused to accept defeat.The justices ruled Friday that “had Congress intended to convey the distinct and extraordinary power to impose tariffs” through the 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, “it would have done so expressly, as it consistently has in other tariff statutes.”
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