Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump Tariffs, President Vows New Action

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected President Donald Trump's entire global tariff system by a 6-3 margin, ruling that the arbitrary imposition of import duties was unconstitutional because the power to levy taxes belongs to Congress. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Founding Fathers did not grant any taxing power to the executive branch. Trump reacted vehemently, calling some judges 'traitors' and 'swimming dogs'. However, he immediately announced that he would impose a 10% global tariff under a different statute. The U.S. Treasury had collected over $133 billion in import duties under emergency laws prior to this ruling.

This is the biggest legal blow Trump has received since his re-election — and his reaction shows he doesn't consider this the end. First, let's understand the nature of the ruling correctly. The Supreme Court did not say Trump was wrong on trade policy. The 6-3 majority simply said: this is Congress's job, not the President's. The IEEPA — International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 — does not grant the power to impose import duties. No president has ever dared to interpret it that way. Roberts was blunt: no precedent means no power. But Trump is not sitting idly by. He immediately pivoted to other trade laws — Section 232, Section 201, or bilateral mechanisms. These laws allow for tariffs but have limits on speed, scale, and duration. He said he would 'charge more than before' — and perhaps he wasn't lying. Economically, the hottest question right now is: will the $133 billion in collected tariffs be refunded? Costco and hundreds of other businesses have lined up in lower courts to demand their money. Justice Kavanaugh, in his dissenting opinion, frankly admitted that this process would be a 'mess'. With an estimated impact of $3 trillion over a decade, this is a huge budget issue — not just a legal problem. Trump's reaction to the court is noteworthy in its own way. He appointed three of the current nine justices. Yet when they voted against him, he immediately questioned 'foreign influence' — without any evidence. This is an alarming escalation:

Vietnamese-American import business owners in the U.S. — especially those importing furniture, apparel, and seafood from Vietnam — will closely monitor Trump's new tariff moves. The Vietnamese-American business community in states like California and Texas has already faced increased import costs throughout 2025; this ruling opens up the possibility of claiming tariff refunds, but the legal process could take many years.