US Supreme Court rules against Trump’s sweeping tariffs

In a consequential decision that most of the world awaited expectantly, with billions of dollars on the line, the US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a lower-court ruling, striking down US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, paving the way for massive refunds of well over US$100 billion already paid and the likelihood of a tumultuous adjustment.

The 6-3 decision in the nine-justice conservative majority of the High Court is the most significant legal setback yet for the administration that has broadly accepted Trump’s expansive view of executive power.

“The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit … is affirmed,” the order said.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

In August last year, the federal appeal court in Washington had struck down Trump’s global “reciprocal” and fentanyl tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada, upholding a lower court’s decision to block them.

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Even after this verdict, Trump has other ways of raising import tax revenue, including sections 122, 232, 301 and 338 of the tax code. But these provisions, meant to redress unfair trade and national security concerns, require a more deliberative process that cannot as easily be applied at the president’s whim.

South China Morning Post