Tidbits, Tariffs Ruling, Cost of Production & Prices, GDP & PMI, Cattle on Feed, Export Sales 2/21/26
- Wright team
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Tidbits
Tariffs: The Supreme Court ruled yesterday by a vote of 6-3 that President Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are illegal. The Court ruled the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law meant for national emergencies, does not authorize a president to impose tariffs. Tariffs are considered taxes/duties, which fall under Congress’ constitutional authority. Any broad delegation of authority to the President requires clear statutory language that IEEPA does not include. This ruling invalidates the sweeping "emergency" tariffs Trump imposed such as reciprocal tariffs on global partners, those tied to trade deficits, fentanyl/drug trafficking claims, and the so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs. These were broad duties on imports from nearly every country, often at double-digit rates.
Tariffs imposed under other laws (like Section 232 for national security on steel/aluminum, or Section 301 for unfair trade practices) remain valid and could be expanded or used to replace some of the struck-down ones. Trump immediately countered by announcing a new 10% global (meaning every imported product) tariff via executive order under the Trade Act of 1974.
The Supreme Court did not directly address tariff refunds in its ruling. The Court focused on the legality of imposing the tariffs and left it to the lower courts and eventually the U.S. Court of International Trade to determine if the tariff fees collected must be refunded. And that is where the chaos and uncertainty will most likely eventually return the refund issue to the Supreme Court.
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