The US Supreme Court ruling on tariffs was potentially due today but four other decisions were rendered, and no word on tariffs. No other decision days have been announced for this week.
The IEEPA is a 1977 law that gives the President broad powers to regulate commerce after declaring a national emergency. Historically, it’s been the “sanctions button”—used to freeze assets of terrorists or rogue states. But the Trump administration dusted it off to impose sweeping tariffs, effectively using it as a trade weapon.
The legal battle (specifically cases like Trump v. V.O.S. Selections) boils down to one critical question: Does the power to “regulate” imports include the power to tax them?
Importers argue that “regulating” isn’t “taxing.” They say if Congress wanted the President to levy tariffs unilaterally, they would have said so. The government argues the statute is broad enough to cover it.
Why this matters for markets
If the Supreme Court rules against the government, the implications are staggering.
We are talking about potential refunds on tariffs collected under IEEPA. Estimates put this north of $150 billion. If importers (think big retail, tech, autos) get that cash back, it’s a massive injection of liquidity into corporate balance sheets.
This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.