The US Supreme Court ruled this Friday (20) by 6 votes to 3 that Donald Trump exceeded the limits of presidential powers to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from almost all of the country’s trading partners.
The decision is considered a major setback for the Republican leader’s economic agenda, presented almost a year ago. Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 to impose tariffs on goods imported from more than 100 countries.
At the time, the government justified the measure by saying that it would help reduce the US trade deficit and stimulate industrial production. However, the policy was mainly used to pressure countries to negotiate trade deals.
The Supreme Court justices reviewed an appeal by the Justice Department against a lower court ruling that had ruled that Trump overstepped his presidential authority by imposing much of the global charges under the emergency law. With the decision, the high court does not prevent the Republican from using other legislative tools to keep his agenda active.
“Our task today is to decide simply whether the power to ‘regulate imports,’ as granted to the president by IEEPA, covers the power to impose tariffs. It does not,” they concluded.
Judge John G. Roberts Jr. assessed that the law used to justify the measure does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.
“The president claims the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited value, duration and scope. In light of the breadth, history and constitutional context of this claimed authority, he must identify a clear authorization from Congress to exercise it”, argued the judge.
The court’s announcement only covers the so-called reciprocal tariffs imposed by Trump on dozens of countries in what became known as Liberation Day. Other taxes, such as the one applied to steel and aluminum, are not included in the suspension.
The American government had already stated that a possible setback in tariff policy would generate significant damage to the US economy due to the payment of large refunds to importers.
Trump’s top trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer,
declared last month that the government would move quickly to replace any emergency tariffs invalidated by the court with other fees. However, other laws that may be considered by Trump will be more limited and less flexible than the 1977 emergency law.
Remember the imposition of tariffs
In February last year, Trump announced tariffs on products imported from China, Canada and Mexico, claiming that they were a way of punishing these countries for allowing the production and entry of fentanyl into the US.
Two months later, he announced Liberation Day, with sweeping tariffs for more than a hundred countries, many considered trading partners. This time, he justified that the measure was necessary to contain the American trade deficit. Brazil was the country most affected, initially, by the decision, with a rate of 50%, based on political issues related to former president Jair Bolsonaro and the legal battle with Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), involving technology companies.
Trump later imposed new duties on steel, aluminum, automobile copper, imported parts, semiconductors and critical minerals.
