The Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump's tariffs by a vote of six to three .
The judges ruled that Trump cannot impose tariffs under the International Emergency Powers Act, which the president invoked to justify the Liberation Day tariffs. Taxes on imported goods, in fact, can only be imposed by Congress, not by the president , who approved them without congressional approval, calling them "vital" to the country's economic security.
A severe blow to Trump from the Supreme Court, according to which the president exceeded his powers by imposing customs tariffs on the basis of a law reserved for national emergencies .
The International Emergency Powers Act gives the president the authority to address "extraordinary threats" in the event of a national emergency, including to "regulate" the importation of "foreign goods." The law makes no explicit reference to tariffs , which, like taxes, are the exclusive prerogative of Congress and for which only limited powers have been granted to the president.
As NBC reports, the ruling was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by three liberal and two conservative justices , Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, in the majority. "The president claims the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope," Roberts wrote. But the Trump administration "does not cite any law" in which Congress has previously stated that the text of the IEEPA could apply to tariffs, he added. Therefore, "we hold that the IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs," Roberts wrote. Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito dissented.
Three justices have therefore “betrayed” Trump: a heavy setback, despite the Court's conservative majority (6 to 3).
WHAT HAPPENS NOW
The decision doesn't affect all tariffs; it leaves in place those he imposed on steel and aluminum under different laws, for example . But it splits them into two categories. One is country-by-country or "reciprocal" tariffs, ranging from 34% for China to a baseline of 10% for the rest of the world. The other is the 25% tariff Trump imposed on certain goods from Canada, China, and Mexico for what the administration called their failure to curb the flow of fentanyl .
"A shameful sentence," thunders Donald Trump, who assures that he has a backup plan, while the EU "takes note" and asks "for clarity from the United States" .
(Unioneonline/L)