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In a surprising 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday to strike down President Donald Trump’s authority to levy tariffs under the hotly debated International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito dissented.
The ruling, which may have come as a shock to some who expected SCOTUS to stand strongly behind the president’s authority on the matter, has thrown the internet into a firestorm of debate, with some celebrating the decision and others strongly criticizing it.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” President Trump said during a press conference addressing the high-profile ruling.
He accused the majority justices of being “fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and radical left Democrats.”
Despite his hefty criticisms, the president noted that the national security-related U.S. tariffs imposed against several countries “remain” in place.
“Other alternatives will now be used to replace the ones that the court incorrectly rejected,” President Trump stated.
The court’s decision solidified two things: that the power to levy taxes lay in Congress alone, and that, within the IEEPA, President Trump does not have the authority to levy tariffs simply in the context of that specific act.
However, the court acknowledged that there are other avenues – perhaps even stronger ones – that allow the president to levy tariffs, such as the Trade Act of 1974 and the Tariff Act of 1930.
Indeed, in his dissenting opinion for the court, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested that the majority’s opinion to strike down the president’s authority to levy swift tariffs during a national emergency under the IEEPA amounted to little more than a paperwork kerfuffle.
“In essence, the Court today concludes that the President checked the wrong statutory box by relying on IEEPA rather than another statute to impose these tariffs,” Kavanaugh noted. “…In light of the statutory text, longstanding historical practice, and relevant Supreme Court precedents, I would conclude that IEEPA authorizes the President to ‘regulate . . . importation’ by imposing tariffs on foreign imports during declared national emergencies. I therefore respectfully dissent.”
SCOTUS’s ruling on tariffs this week is limited to those tariffs implemented within the scope of the IEEPA alone. The narrow decision also failed to mandate refunds to foreign countries on tariff revenue, which was another small but momentous win for the Trump administration.
Justice Kavanaugh only briefly acknowledged the potential refund mess in his dissent, writing: “The United States may be required to refund billions of dollars to importers who paid the IEEPA tariffs, even though some importers may have already passed on costs to consumers or others. As was acknowledged at oral argument, the refund process is likely to be a ‘mess.’”
President Trump on Friday said that “I’m going to go in a different direction,” alluding that it may have been the way “I could have gone originally.”
He also argued that SCOTUS, by nixing IEEPA authority, had only solidified presidential authority on levying tariffs through other statutes. “I’m sure that they did not mean to do so,” President Trump quipped, arguing that the parameters were now “more powerful and more crystal clear.”
Lastly, the president announced Friday that all national security tariffs imposed under Section 232 and Section 301 will remain in place. He also said that he would sign an order imposing an immediate 10 percent “global tariff under Section 122 over and above our normal tariffs already being charged.”
And as far as the potential effect on the U.S. economy, the president addressed concerned Americans who may worry that the tariff decision could cause inflation to rebound.
“We really are at a very important point,” President Trump said. “I’ve been waiting for this decision so long…that gave uncertainty, now, we have certainty.”
He added, “I think you’re going to see the country get much stronger because of it.”