The United States Supreme Court has struck down a sweeping set of global tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
Highlighting the existing divide in U.S. politics, this is a significant setback to Trump’s economic agenda, and also introduces fresh uncertainty into global markets already unsettled by his shifting trade policies.
The ruling came after Trump announced plans to introduce a new across-the-board 10% tariff.
In a 6–3 decision authored by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the court found that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners last year.
In turn, the president responded sharply during a White House news conference, criticizing the justices who ruled against him as “fools and lap dogs”.
He proceeded to insist that that new tariffs would be introduced within hours. Those new measures are set to take effect Tuesday.
But this decision is one of the few instances during his second term in which the Supreme Court has directly limited Trump’s efforts to broaden executive power.
Trump framed the tariffs as central to his economic and foreign policy strategy, frequently using both tariffs and the threat of them as leverage in dealings with allies and adversaries alike.
Through this move, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its independence. Since Trump returned to office last year, the Supreme Court had largely sided with his administration in disputes like immigration policy, federal agency authority and military service rules affecting transgender troops. However, Trump’s insistence on a new 10% global tariff could mean higher barriers for neighbors in the North American trade agreement — like Canada and Mexico. More importantly for Trump, he’s trying to reduce the federal deficit.
