In a six-to-three vote decision, the court—majority conservative—concluded that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, approved in the 1970s, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs without congressional approval. Trump was the first U.S. chief executive to invoke this legislation to advance taxes on imports, despite the law never explicitly mentioning the word tariff.
The decision concerns the tariffs presented as “reciprocal” by the Trump administration, but it does not cover those applied to specific sectors such as automobiles, steel, or aluminum.
“The president claims to have the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope. Given the breadth, history, and constitutional context of this asserted authority, he should obtain clear authorization from Congress to exercise it,” wrote Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., on behalf of the majority.
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One of the judges who voted against the decision, Brett M. Kavanaugh, warned about the potential financial consequences of the ruling, reminding that the United States “may be required to reimburse billions of dollars to importers who paid” the tariffs, even though part of these costs may already have been passed on to consumers.
Trump had previously admitted that a loss in the Supreme Court could force the country to pay substantial damages and made it clear that he would take the decision personally, especially in a court dominated by conservative judges. According to the The New York Times the American administration would already be preparing for this outcome and should attempt to reintroduce the tariffs through another legal mechanism, although it is not clear when this might happen.
However, several American companies had already filed lawsuits to be compensated for the losses caused by the tariffs now considered illegal.
