Washington, 20 February 2026 (dpa/MIA) - US President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policy has been dealt a blow by the country's highest court, which ruled that he overstepped his authority by invoking emergency powers to impose sweeping duties on nations around the world.

In the 6-3 decision issued on Friday, the nine-member Supreme Court found that Trump exceeded his constitutional powers when he relied on an emergency law to levy country-specific tariffs last April.

The ruling strips broad swathes of Trump's tariff regime of their legal foundation.

However, the president's team has already indicated it would seek to rely on alternative legal grounds to continue pursuing the president's trade policy if it lost before the court.

So while many US trading partners may now hope for relief from Washington's tariffs, it remains unclear whether any reductions will be long-lasting.

The tariffs in question

The 170-page ruling centred on Trump's usage of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, known as IEEPA.

Trump invoked the act, which dates to 1977, on April 2, 2025 to introduce a broad package of duties on dozens of US trading partners, in what he dubbed "Liberation Day."

His administration later granted deadlines to allow continued negotiations with Washington.

As a result, some tariff rates were adjusted, and in the case of others, like the European Union, an agreement was reached. Since the beginning of August, a 15% tariff has applied to most EU goods imported into the United States.

While the emergency act allows a president to regulate foreign trade in the event of a national emergency, it does not allow for the imposition of tariffs, the court said.

"IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

The justices made clear that under the US Constitution, Congress alone has the authority to levy taxes and tariffs.

It was not immediately clear how the Supreme Court's decision would affect tariffs agreed under such trade bilateral arrangements.

It also remained uncertain whether companies would be entitled to refunds for duties already paid under the tariff scheme struck down on Friday.

Observers have warned of potential bureaucratic chaos if the government were required to reimburse billions of dollars to importers who paid the tariffs.

Limits on presidential authority

For Trump — who has repeatedly described tariffs as one of his favourite policy tools — the decision marks a major defeat.

Trump argued that a persistent imbalance in international trade posed a threat to national security and therefore constituted a national emergency.

Several US companies and states challenged the measures in court. Lower courts ruled in their favour, but Trump appealed, allowing the tariffs to remain in place while the case proceeded to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court.

During oral arguments in early November, several justices — including conservatives — expressed scepticism about the administration’s reasoning, questioning whether nearly all major US trading partners could plausibly be classified as security risks.

In its ruling, the court said the United States was not at war with the countries concerned and that the measures therefore could not be justified under wartime powers. In peacetime, the president does not have the authority to impose tariffs, the justices concluded.

Photo: FOX News