On Friday, February 20, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision that invalidates most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. According to an article from the SCOTUSblog:
“In a major ruling on presidential power, the Supreme Court on Friday struck down the sweeping tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed in a series of executive orders. By a vote of 6-3, the justices ruled that the tariffs exceed the powers given to the president by Congress under a 1977 law providing him the authority to regulate commerce during national emergencies created by foreign threats.
The court did not weigh in, however, on whether or how the federal government should provide refunds to the importers who have paid the tariffs, estimated in 2025 at more than $200 billion. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested that the federal government “may be required to refund billions of dollars to importers who paid the IEEPA tariffs, even though some importers may have already passed on costs to consumers or others.” Moreover, he added, “because IEEPA tariffs have helped facilitate trade deals worth trillions of dollars — including with foreign nations from China to the United Kingdom to Japan, the Court’s decision could generate uncertainty regarding various trade agreements. That process, too, could be difficult,” Kavanaugh warned.
The law at the center of the case is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, known as IEEPA, which authorizes the president to use the law “to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, if the president declares a national emergency with respect to such threat.” A separate provision of the law provides that when there is a national emergency, the president may “regulate … importation or exportation” of “property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest.”
To continue reading the full story from the SCOTUSblog, click here.
Additionally, Troy Keller of Dorsey + Whitney LLP had the following to say about the decision and its potential positive impact for businesses, including those in direct selling:
“The Supreme Court decision is of course incredibly significant in finding the tariffs relying on IEEPA exceeded the authority granted by that statute, and so were illegal. In theory this means companies should be able to get refunds of the tariffs they paid under IEEPA. That point is remanded down to the Court of International Trade to sort out, so the specific pathway there is not clear.
Companies may want to submit a claim to the court right away to get into that queue or await more clarity from CBP. Our firm will be working with World Trade Center Utah to lay out some potential resources and routes for Utah companies.”
To read more about the decision from Dorsey + Whitney, LLP, click here.
