The US Supreme Court Rules Trump's Tariffs Illegal
According to Time magazine, the US Supreme Court announced a ruling on the 20th, determining that the large-scale tariff policies implemented by the Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were illegal. This constitutes a heavy blow to its economic agenda and also sets clear boundaries for the president's use of emergency powers to reshape global trade.
The report states that the court made a decision spanning ideological divisions, 6 to 3, ruling that the Trump administration's imposition of broad import taxes based on "national emergency" lacked legal authority. The ruling immediately rendered last year's tariffs on almost all imported goods invalid, including "reciprocal tariffs" on dozens of countries and additional tariffs related to the fentanyl crisis.
The ruling was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, with three liberal justices and two judges appointed by Trump—Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett—joining the majority opinion. This is a rare rejection of Trump's power, despite the court's 6-3 conservative majority shaped by him.
Trump said at the White House that he would re-implement some tariffs under other laws and claimed that litigation could continue for the next five years because the ruling does not clarify whether tariffs already collected need to be refunded. He announced that he would sign an executive order under section 122 of the Trade Act to impose a 10% global tariff, which would be implemented in addition to existing tariffs; tariffs based on sections 232 and 301 of the law related to national security would remain in effect. However, the new measures can only be implemented for a maximum of 150 days without congressional approval for extension.
The report points out that the ruling not only limits the policies that Trump claimed would enhance America's international leverage but also brings significant fiscal and legal impacts. The government will no longer be able to collect hundreds of billions of dollars in tariff revenue under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act passed in 1977 and may face demands for refunds from companies. By the end of December, these tariffs had generated about $130 billion in revenue, originally planned to support tax reduction policies.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1857695317121034/
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