United States Supreme Court Invalidates IEEPA Tariffs
In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, a divided Supreme Court held that the president lacks authority to impose tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act ("IEEPA").
By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, February 20, that IEEPA does not grant the president the authority to impose tariffs. This ruling invalidates tariff programs implemented under IEEPA, including tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico, as well as reciprocal tariffs. So far, these tariff programs have reportedly collected approximately $175 billion in revenue.
Chief Justice Roberts authored the controlling opinion. Writing for himself and Justices Gorsuch and Barrett, the Chief Justice reasoned that these tariffs implicated Congress's power of the purse and concerned a matter of great economic and political significance. He thus applied the major questions doctrine and concluded that IEEPA lacks the clear statement required to authorize a delegation of Congress's tariff power. Justice Kagan concurred in part, reasoning that the lack of a delegation was plain from the statutory text by itself. She was joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson. Justice Kavanaugh authored the principal dissent, arguing that IEEPA's text does clearly delegate tariff authority. He was joined by Justices Thomas and Alito.
The Supreme Court also concluded that the Court of International Trade has exclusive jurisdiction over challenges to IEEPA tariffs. However, the Court did not address the matter of remedies. Open questions thus remain concerning the recovery of tariffs already paid under IEEPA. On Friday evening, the White House issued an Executive Order, "Ending Certain Tariff Actions," effectively ending the IEEPA tariffs. The relevant agencies were instructed to terminate the collection of IEEPA tariffs as soon as practicable.
President Trump has announced that he intends to institute new tariffs under other statutory authorities. On Friday evening, the administration also released a presidential proclamation, "Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems." Effective February 24 and pursuant to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, the proclamation places a 10% ad valorem duty on all imported articles, with certain defined exceptions. President Trump, however, also announced on Saturday, February 21, that that the ad valorem rate would instead be 15%, the maximum amount allowed under Section 122.
