The US’ highest court struck down some of US President Donald Trump’s most sweeping tariffs on Friday, in a 6-3 decision that he overstepped his authority when using an emergency powers law to justify new taxes on goods from nearly every country in the world.
Trump has launched a barrage of new tariffs over the last year. Despite Friday’s ruling, many sectoral levies remain in place — and the president has already said that he’ll turn to other options for more import taxes, including plans to impose a new 10 percent tariff globally. But the Supreme Court decision upends a core set of tariffs that Trump rolled out using the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.
IEEPA authorizes the president to broadly regulate commerce after declaring a national emergency. Over the years, presidents have turned to this law dozens of times, often to place sanctions on other countries, but Trump was the first to use it to implement tariffs.
Photo: AFP
Here’s a look at the now-overturned tariffs Trump imposed using IEEPA — and other levies that still stand today.
Trump used IEEPA to slap import taxes on nearly every country in the world last spring. On April 2, which Trump called Liberation Day, he imposed “reciprocal” tariffs of up to 50 percent on goods from dozens of countries — and a baseline 10 percent tariff on just about everyone else.
The 10 percent tax kicked in early April. But the bulk of Liberation Day’s higher levies got delayed by several months, and many rates were revised over time (in some cases after new “framework” agreements). Most went into effect Aug. 7.
The national emergency underlying these tariffs, Trump argued at the time, was the long-running gap between what the US sells and what it buys from the rest of the world. Still, goods from countries with which the US runs a trade surplus also faced taxes.
Major trading partners impacted by Liberation Day tariffs include South Korea, Japan and the EU — which combined export a range of products to the US, like electronics, cars and car parts and pharmaceuticals. Following trade talks, Trump’s rates on most goods stood at 15 percent for the EU, Japan and South Korea ahead of Friday. But just last month, Trump threatened to hike levies on certain South Korean products to 25 percent — and countries worldwide still face sector-specific, non-IEEPA tariffs.
At the start of his second term, Trump used IEEPA to impose new tariffs on the US’ three biggest trading partners: Mexico, Canada and China.
To justify these tariffs, Trump declared a national emergency ostensibly over undocumented immigration and the trafficking of drugs like fentanyl and the chemicals made to use it. The levies were first announced at the start of February 2025, but went into effect over time — and were at times delayed, reduced or heightened through further retaliation.
Ahead of Friday’s decision, “trafficking tariffs” on Canadian and Mexican imports were 35 percent and 25 percent, respectively, for goods that don’t comply with the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. China, meanwhile, faced a 10 percent fentanyl-related tariff. That’s down from 20 percent imposed by Trump earlier last year. Chinese goods also once saw sky-high levies after Liberation Day, but rates had since come down during trade talks.
Top US imports from China include mobile phones and other electronics, as well as clothing, toys and household appliances. Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico are both major sources of cars and auto parts. Canada is also the US’s largest supplier of crude oil. And Mexico is a key exporter of fresh produce, beverages and more.
Trump also used IEEPA to slap steep import taxes on Brazilian imports over the summer, citing the country’s policies and criminal prosecution of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.
Brazil already faced Trump’s 10 percent baseline Liberation Day rate. The Bolsonaro-related duties added another 40 percent, bringing total levies to 50 percent on many products ahead of Friday.
The US has actually run a consistent trade surplus with Brazil over the years, but top exports from the country include manufactured products, crude oil and agricultural products like soybeans and sugar.
India has faced additional IEEPA tariffs, too. After Liberation Day, Trump slapped a 25 percent levy on Indian imports — and later added another 25 percent for the country’s purchases of Russian oil, while also citing the emergency powers law, bringing the total to 50 percent.
Earlier this month, the US and India reached a trade framework deal. Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil, and that he planned to lower US tariffs on its ally to 18 percent. Meanwhile, India said it would “eliminate or reduce tariffs” on all US industrial goods and a range of agricultural products.
India’s top exports to the US include pharmaceuticals, precious stones, clothing and textiles.
Despite the Supreme Court knocking down sweeping import taxes Trump imposed with IEEPA, most countries still face steep tariffs from the US on specific sectors.
Citing national security threats, Trump has used another law — Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act — to slap levies on steel, aluminum, cars, copper and lumber worldwide. He began to roll out even more Section 232 tariffs in September, on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and upholstered furniture.
Amid pressure to lower rising prices, Trump has rolled back some of his tariffs recently. Beyond trade frameworks, that’s included adding exemptions to specific levies and scrapping import taxes for goods like coffee, tropical fruit and beef.
Still, Trump has threatened more sectoral levies are on the way. And following Friday’s decision, he said that he would sign an executive order to enact a 10 percent global tariff — using another federal law, known as Section 122. Those tariffs would be limited to just 150 days, unless they are extended legislatively.
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