Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s sweeping tariffs, upending one of his key policies

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in his dissent:

"The Court’s decision is likely to generate other serious practical consequences in the near term. One issue will be refunds."

"The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the… https://t.co/o8bt4CXUbh pic.twitter.com/apnxa9yEZm

— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) February 20, 2026

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump lacked authority to impose sweeping global tariffs under emergency powers, overturning a central element of his trade policy.

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled 6-3 that Donald Trump does not have the legal authority to impose sweeping global tariffs without congressional approval, striking down key “reciprocal” tariffs introduced under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and marking a rare judicial setback for the administration; lower courts had previously ruled against the policy, and while the decision leaves some tariffs imposed under other laws intact, it overturns country-by-country tariffs affecting major trading partners and a 25% levy on certain goods from Canada, China and Mexico, with the ruling arising from consolidated lawsuits by businesses and a coalition of states and leaving open the possibility that the tariffs could be reintroduced using alternative legal authority.

It was a rare setback for the administration, from a Supreme Court with a 6-3 conservative majority that has regularly backed Trump on various contentious cases since he took office.

The ruling was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, who was joined by two of his fellow conservatives, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, and the three liberal justices. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

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