Trump's sweeping global tariffs struck down by US Supreme Court

BBC: Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs have been struck down by the US Supreme Court.

Last year, Trump placed taxes on goods imported into the US, saying it would boost American manufacturing.

Instead of getting Congressional approval, the Trump administration used the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Declaring an emergency under the law meant Trump could issue immediate orders and bypass Congress.

In August 2025, a US appeals court ruled that most of Trump's tariffs were illegal, but left them in place.

The Supreme Court got involved when the White House requested they overturn that appeals court decision.

The tariffs affected by Friday's ruling:

The country-wide tariffs Trump imposed on most of the world.

The ruling centres on Trump’s use of a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), that gives the president the power to "regulate" trade in response to an emergency.

Trump first invoked it in February 2025 to tax goods from China, Mexico and Canada, saying drug trafficking from those countries constituted an emergency.

He deployed it again in April, ordering levies from 10% to 50% on goods from almost every country in the world. He said the US trade deficit – where the US imports more than it exports – posed an "extraordinary and unusual threat".

The unaffected tariffs

The industry-specific steel, aluminium, lumber and automotive tariffs, which were implemented under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, citing national-security concerns.