Supreme Court Rules Against Large Number of President Trump's Tariffs
Key Takeaways
- A 6-3 majority found IEEPA did not authorize broad tariff imposition, with Roberts, Gorsuch, and Barrett joining liberal justices; Alito, Kavanaugh, and Thomas dissented.
- Reciprocal country-specific tariffs and select 25% fentanyl-retaliation tariffs are directly affected, while tariffs justified under other statutory frameworks remain operative.
The judges ruled against tariffs levied using an emergency law.
Tariff drama continues in the United States.
This week, the Supreme Court issued a ruling against many of President Trump’s tariffs. In a 6-3 ruling, the judges determined that the President’s use of a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not permit him to issue the tariffs he put in place over much of last year, NBC News reports.1
Which tariffs are impacted by this ruling?
This ruling only affects tariffs placed under this law. Tariffs placed using other laws or reasoning are unaffected by this ruling.
Conservative judges John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barret joined the court’s liberal judges in ruling against the tariffs. Justices Alito, Kavanaugh, and Thomas dissented.
In the ruling, Roberts wrote, “"The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration and scope.”
This decision directly impacts two kinds of tariffs: those placed upon specific countries as reciprocal tariffs and the 25% tariffs placed on goods from certain countries in retaliation for the President’s claim that those countries were not slowing the flow of fentanyl into the country.
NBC also reports that the court did not directly address the issue of how to handle the money already collected from US companies paying these tariffs. However, Justice Kavanaugh reportedly stated that he believed the impact on the treasury could be significant.
President Trump has used the threat of tariffs as a negotiating tool against a variety of countries, companies, and industries. Pharmaceutical companies were specifically targeted by the president, who said he could place significant tariffs on their products if they did not lower drug costs in the United States.
These tariffs would likely fall under the reciprocal tariffs that the Supreme Court just ruled against.
According to NPR,2 the ruling impacts roughly half of the financial amount of tariffs collected since Trump office. The news outlet reports that tariff revenue increased to about four-times as much after Trump took office early last year. However, imports have started to decrease.
The BBC reports that Trump responded to the court’s ruling by calling it a disgrace.3
It’s unclear how exactly this will impact the President’s strategy moving forward. Tariffs have played a major role in his attempts to achieve various goals. The court’s ruling may make it more difficult for the President to justify tariffs, although he still has other avenues to use to place them.
Major pharmaceutical companies joined on the President’s TrumpRx initiative late last year after being threatened with tariffs. The stated goal of the site was to bring most-favored-nation pricing the US citizens. When the site launched early this year, it was revealed that US citizens could obtain coupons for certain drugs that could be redeemed at some pharmacy or drug makers’ DTC sites. However, these coupons could not be combined with insurance plans and the purchases would not count towards deductibles.
The threat of tariffs was also used to push pharma companies to increase their domestic manufacturing capabilities. While many companies pledged to increase investments in this area, it will be several years before new sites can come online.
It’s likely that the President will attempt to continue to use tariffs and simply adjust his reasoning for placing them since they played such a significant role in his strategy during his first year in office.
Sources
Supreme Court strikes down most of Trump's tariffs in a major blow to the president. NBC News. February 20, 2026.
7 key things to know about Trump's tariffs after the Supreme Court decision. NPR. February 20, 2026.
Trump's sweeping global tariffs struck down by US Supreme Court. BBC. February 20, 2026.
Newsletter
Lead with insight with the Pharmaceutical Executive newsletter, featuring strategic analysis, leadership trends, and market intelligence for biopharma decision-makers.
Related Content
