The Supreme Court has struck down (most of) Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, a rare rebuke to a president the court has enabled time and time again. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion:
“Based on two words separated by 16 others in Section 1702(a)(1)(B) of IEEPA—‘regulate’ and ‘importation’—the President asserts the independent power to impose tariffs on imports from any country, of any product, at any rate, for any amount of time. Those words cannot bear such weight.”
The decision is a major loss for the president’s signature economic policy. But as my colleague Pema Levy writes, Roberts’ decision appears to intentionally leave some important things out, omissions that raise many questions for the future of other Trump policies. The court is also very likely doing him a favor with this decision.
“The justices had to pick a parent in this fight, and enough of the conservative wing picked the billionaires and big business over Trump,” Pema writes.
For more on today’s ruling, head to Pema’s clear-eyed analysis here.
—Inae Oh
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