The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, handing him a stinging loss that sparked a furious attack on the court he helped shape.
Trump said he was “absolutely ashamed” of some justices who ruled 6-3 against him, calling them “disloyal to our Constitution” and “lapdogs.” At one point he even raised the specter of foreign influence without citing any evidence.
The decision could have ripple effects on economies around the globe after Trump’s moves to remake post-World War II trading alliances by wielding tariffs as a weapon.
But an unbowed Trump pledged to impose a new global 10% tariff under a law that’s restricted to 150 days and has never been used to apply tariffs before.
“Their decision is incorrect,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter because we have very powerful alternatives.”
The court’s ruling found tariffs that Trump imposed under an emergency powers law were unconstitutional, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country.
Trump appointed three of the justices on the nation’s highest court during his first term, and has scored a series of short-term wins that have allowed him to move ahead with key policies. Tariffs, though, were the first major piece of Trump’s broad agenda to come squarely before the Supreme Court for a final ruling, after lower courts had also sided against the president.
The majority found that it’s unconstitutional for the president to unilaterally set and change tariffs because taxation power clearly belongs to Congress. “The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
“The tariffs at issue here may or may not be wise policy. But as a matter of text, history, and precedent, they are clearly lawful,” Kavanaugh wrote. Trump praised his 63-page dissent as “genius.”
The court majority didn’t address whether businesses could get refunded for the billions they have collectively paid in tariffs. Many companies, including the big-box warehouse chain Costco, have already lined up in lower courts to demand refunds. Kavanaugh noted the process could be complicated.
“The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers. But that process is likely to be a ‘mess,’ as was acknowledged at oral argument,” he wrote.
The Treasury had collected more than $133 billion from the import taxes the president has imposed under the emergency powers law as of December, federal data shows. The impact over the next decade has been estimated at some $3 trillion.
When Trump set reciprocal tariffs in April 2025, a series of lawsuits followed, including a case from a dozen largely Democratic-leaning states that included Illinois and others from small businesses. The challengers argued the emergency powers law doesn’t even mention tariffs and Trump’s use of it fails several legal tests, including one that doomed then-President Joe Biden’s $500 billion student loan forgiveness program.
The Supreme Court heard combined cases brought by the small businesses, including Learning Resources and Hand2Mind, toy makers based in Vernon Hills that are owned by the same family. Learning Resources filed its lawsuit last year, as did a group of other small businesses.
“As family-owned, mission-driven education companies, we brought this lawsuit to protect our 500+ employees and the schools and families who rely on us,” Learning Resources said in a statement. The Supreme Court’s decision, declaring tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as unlawful, “is a powerful reaffirmation of the Rule of Law and Constitutional Separation of Powers that our country is built upon.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling is “a win-win for the Constitution and the U.S. economy,” Phillip Braun, finance professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said in a statement. “It was clear from the initial imposition of the tariffs that they were not about the economy but rather, as a way for Trump to try to impose his will on the global economy.”
While the Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs, the Trump administration argued that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law allowing the president to regulate importation during emergencies, also allows him to set import duties. 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.
“And the fact that no President has ever found such power in IEEPA is strong evidence that it does not exist,” Roberts wrote.
We Pay the Tariffs, a national grassroots coalition of more than 800 small businesses, demanded automatic refunds to businesses that paid tariffs.
“They’ve taken out loans just to keep their doors open. They’ve frozen hiring, canceled expansion plans and watched their life savings drain away to pay tariff bills that weren’t in any budget or business plan. Today, the Supreme Court has validated what we’ve been saying all along: These tariffs were unlawful from the start,” Dan Anthony, executive director of We Pay the Tariffs, said in a statement.
Amanda Kezios, owner of Mojo Spa in Wicker Park and a We Pay the Tariffs member, said in a statement: “If tariffs were refunded quickly and reliably, my suppliers could lower ingredient and packaging costs. Restoring these products would immediately help close the revenue gap created during the months we were forced to discontinue more than 50% of our line due to tariff-related cost increases. That revenue is critical for sustaining the business through slower seasons and gives us a real chance to survive and stabilize.”
Hannah Wilson, owner of The Dropped Stitch near Edgewater, said tariffs have raised costs and created stress and uncertainty for her yarn store. For example, costs have spiked for Wilson’s favorite knitting needle brand from a Michigan company that are considered the best on the market.
“All of their production is done in China. Since I opened my store in November 2024, their wholesale prices have all increased by 20% to 30%, due to the tariff situation,” Wilson said. “A complete set of needles that used to be $214.50 is now $271. Other brands are also increasing their prices, so simply switching to another supplier wouldn’t help me.”
Sari Wiaz, owner of Northbrook-based Baby Paper, is part of a recently launched national campaign called Small Businesses Against Tariffs.
She said in a statement that “Relief doesn’t erase the reality that we just paid substantial tariff invoices on newly arrived inventory. We’re now facing uncertainty at Customs, confusion about implementation and a critical question: When and how will small businesses be reimbursed? For companies operating on thin margins, that cash flow matters.”