Trump Tariff Takedown

In a historic 6-3 ruling the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Trump's sweeping global tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), holding that the Constitution's taxing power belongs squarely to Congress — not the executive branch. TCS President Steve Ellis and Director of Research and Policy Josh Sewell break down the ruling in real time.

The court's majority, which included Trump appointees Gorsuch and Barrett alongside Chief Justice Roberts and the three liberal justices, found that Congress never authorized the president to levy tariffs under IEEPA — and that the word "tariff" doesn't even appear in the law. Steve and Josh trace TCS's position back to Liberation Day and the August tariff escalation episodes, where they argued that a tariff is a tax and that speculative tariff revenue could never be a reliable budget offset. Today's ruling validated that argument.

But don't pop the champagne yet. Steve and Josh walk through what the ruling doesn't do: it doesn't end tariffs. The administration has already signaled it will pursue tariffs under other statutes — Section 232, Section 301, Section 122, and even the ghost of Smoot-Hawley. They also dig into the fiscal fallout: over $133 billion in tariff revenue collected under IEEPA may be subject to refunds, with potential losses of $1.5 trillion over the next decade. With a $38.6 trillion national debt and $1.8 trillion annual deficit, that's not a rounding error.

The bottom line: Congress can no longer hide behind executive tariff revenue to paper over its fiscal failures. The court just slammed shut that escape hatch. Now it's time for Congress to do its job.