By Breaking Editor 
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a significant blow to former President Donald Trump on Friday, ruling that his broad tariffs enacted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are illegal. The unanimous decision, which passed by a 6-3 vote, asserts that the president exceeded his authority by imposing these tariffs, upending a key element of Trump’s economic strategy.
The ruling comes as a response to Trump’s attempts to implement sweeping tariff measures, which many critics described as taxes on American consumers. In the dissenting opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized that only Congress holds the power to impose taxes, arguing that tariffs function as taxes. The court’s decision specifically invalidates the emergency tariffs but allows for some sector-specific tariffs on commodities such as steel and aluminum to remain in place.
This landmark ruling arrives during a period of economic turbulence marked by disappointing GDP figures and rising inflation. The implications of the decision are expected to reverberate throughout the agricultural sectors and among businesses reliant on imported materials, many of whom have claimed that these tariffs were financially burdensome.
Former officials and legal experts have expressed that the ruling underscores the limitations of executive power in tariff imposition—a central tenet of Trump’s trade policy. As public scrutiny increases, the ramifications of this judgment may influence future trade negotiations and the political landscape leading up to the next election cycle.
The court’s ruling torpedoes tariffs as a centralized economy control measure. This should bring about greater relief to consumers. According to the Federal Reserve, 90 percent of tariff costs are born by consumers in the US, not the exporting companies abroad.
Additionally, the constitutional balance of power regarding fiscal authority curtails significantly the ever expanding limits of presidential emergency powers Trump has relied upon for policy implementation.