Supreme Court delivers massive blow to economic agenda in 6-3 ruling

2 min readUpdated: Feb 20, 2026 09:03 PM The US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs Friday, upending the central plank of his economic agenda. The 6-3 decision is centred on on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs that has been levied on nearly every other country. The Supreme Court reached its decision in a legal challenge businesses affected the tariffs and 12 US states against Trump’s unprecedented use of this law to unilaterally impose tariffs.ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO
This case is the first major part of his agenda to reach the court, where he appointed three conservative justices in his first term. Trump had called the case “one of the most important in US hory” and said an adverse ruling would hurt the economy.
 What this means
However, the decision made on tariffs doesn’t stop US President Trump from imposing duties under other laws. While those have more limitations on the speed and severity of Trump’s actions, top adminration officials have said they expect to keep the tariff framework in place under other authorities.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs. But the Trump adminration argued that a 1977 law allowing the president to regulate importation during emergencies also allows him to set tariffs. Other presidents have used the law dozens of times, often to impose sanctions, but Trump was the first president to invoke it for import taxes.
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