WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD NEWS) — The Supreme Court handed down a major ruling on President Donald Trump’s tariff trade strategy. Several opinions are expected from the Court this morning.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Trump Administration’s controversial trade strategy to impose global duties without Congressional approval exceeded the limits of presidential power. Details of the decision and how the tariffs will be rolled back are still be released.
“Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution sets forth the powers of the Legislative Branch. The first Clause of that provision specifies that “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” It is no accident that this power appears first. The power to tax was, Alexander Hamilton explained, “the most important of the authorities proposed to be conferred upon the Union.” The Federalist No. 33, pp. 202–203 (C. Rossiter ed. 1961). It is both a “power to destroy,” McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 431 (1819), and a power “necessary to the existence and prosperity of a nation”—“the one great power upon which the whole national fabric is based.” Nicol v. Ames, 173 U. S. 509, 515 (1899).
The power to impose tariffs is “very clear[ly] . . . a branch of the taxing power.” Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1, 201 (1824). “A tariff,” after all, “is a tax levied on imported goods and services.”
In a post on Truth Social, the president warned overturning the tariffs would create what he called a “complete mess,” potentially disrupting ongoing trade deals. Treasury officials say contingency plans are already in place if the Court strikes the duties. At the same time, a Financial Times report says the administration is considering rolling back some steel and aluminum tariffs amid growing political pressure.
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