The Supreme Court Refuses Trump's Tariffs

"The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision today striking down President Trump's tariffs isn't just significant because it constrains him from imposing his transformative economic policy under the guise of a national emergency. The ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump is more important as a welcome signal that even this Court is willing, at times, to stand up against an overreaching President."

"This remains an undoubtedly conservative Court, which has ruled repeatedly in favor of the Trump Administration during the past year. It will do so again; the conservative Justices' devotion to nearly unbridled executive authority aligns conveniently with Trump's desire to exercise such power. So watch for the Court, later this year, to overrule a ninety-year-old precedent and grant the President new power to fire agency officials."

"They weren't in complete agreement about the basis for the ruling, but they were together in their understanding that a law lacking any mention of tariffs does not give the President, as Roberts put it in his opinion for the Court, "the independent power to impose tariffs on imports from any country, of any product, at any rate, for any amount of time.""

The Supreme Court struck down President Trump's tariffs in a 6-3 decision, concluding the governing statute does not authorize sweeping tariff power. A coalition of conservative and liberal justices agreed that a law without any mention of tariffs cannot confer authority to impose tariffs on any product from any country for any duration. The Court constrained executive action here even though it remains broadly conservative and has often favored the administration. The ruling demonstrates that text-based statutory limits can check expansive claims of emergency authority and may influence upcoming cases on citizenship and agency removal powers.

Read at The New Yorker