The United States Supreme Court just shot down most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. In a 6-3 decision [PDF], the court said that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not give the President unilateral power to prescribe import duties without prior approval from Congress.
The Trump administration argued that the nearly 50-year-old law gives the President the power to “regulate” the “importation or exportation” of “any property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.” While previous presidents have used the law to impose sanctions and embargoes on other nations, this is the first time that it has been used to apply tariffs on imports. The White House argues that the term “regulate” gives Trump the right to impose levies at will.
