The Supreme Court struck down one of President Donald Trump's signature accomplishments on Friday, ruling 6-3 that the president lacked the authority to impose many of his tariffs.
Since returning to the White House, President Trump has tested the boundaries of executive power, and the Supreme Court decision was a clear check on presidential authority.
In response to the ruling, Trump pledged to impose a new 10 percent global tariff via executive order, citing Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. (That statute would allow him to impose the tariffs for 150 days, at which point they would need congressional approval.) A defiant Trump insisted, "I have the right to do tariffs," according to CNBC.
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. issued the court's opinion, which found that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) does not give the president the authority to impose tariffs unilaterally. Roberts Jr. was joined by justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, while Brett M. Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito, Jr. dissented.
"The Framers gave 'Congress alone' the power to impose tariffs during peacetime," Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. "And the foreign affairs implications of tariffs do not make it any more likely that Congress would relinquish its tariff power through vague language, or without careful limits. Accordingly, the President must 'point to clear congressional authorization' to justify his extraordinary assertion of that power."
The ruling ends a year-long legal saga over the tariffs, which faced lawsuits and challenges from the outset. The Constitution clearly grants Congress, not the president, the authority to set tariffs, and Trump's legal justification for his sweeping emergency tariffs has always been sketchy.
However, the Supreme Court decision comes long after the tariffs went into effect, sending shockwaves through the global economy. As Mashable has reported, President Trump's tariffs have led to wide-ranging price increases across industries, with everything from lumber and building supplies to gaming consoles and smartphones seeing price adjustments. Apple CEO Tim Cook estimated in August that Apple faced $1.1 billion in tariff costs in the second quarter of 2025 alone.
Tech stocks began to rally on Friday afternoon following the ruling, with Apple, Amazon, NVIDIA, and Dell stocks climbing, according to Barron's. However, the overall gains have been modest so far.
Shoppers hoping for lower prices as a result of the ruling will likely be disappointed. Many price increases for 2026 products are already baked in, as companies like Apple were forced to shift manufacturing to new markets to try to evade tariffs.
Ravin Gandhi, CEO of GMM Nonstick Coatings and an expert on tariffs, told Mashable that shoppers should not expect any immediate price relief.
"Consumers shouldn’t see meaningful price relief soon. Tariffs were just one piece in the overall pricing structure — and businesses don’t typically lower prices immediately when a cost input disappears — especially with so much inflationary pressure," Gandhi said. "Even though the ruling is legally significant, the short-term economic impact may not happen as fast as the headlines are suggesting."
On top of inflation and tariff-related price increases, an ongoing global memory shortage fueled by the AI industry is also putting upward pressure on tech prices.
While Trump has strong control over the Republican majority in Congress, Gandhi said that reinstating the tariffs could also take time.
"It’s very unlikely that Congress will move quickly to reinstate tariffs," Gandhi said. "Trade policy through Congress is really complex and difficult to do politically — especially with everything being so divided nowadays. Even lawmakers who support the tariffs may start hesitating when it comes to that ownership of the legislative piece."
On his social network Truth Social, the president called the ruling "deeply disappointing" and accused the Supreme Court of being "swayed by Foreign Interests." He called Roberts and the justices who joined the majority opinion "lapdogs" and a "Disgrace to our Nation."
"I am ashamed of certain Members of the Court for not having the Courage to do what is right for our Country. I would like to thank and congratulate Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh for your Strength, Wisdom, and Love of our Country, which is right now very proud of you. When you read the dissenting opinions, there is no way that anyone can argue against them...The Democrats on the Court are thrilled, but they will automatically vote 'NO' against ANYTHING that makes America Strong and Healthy Again. They, also, are a Disgrace to our Nation. Others think they’re being 'politically correct,' which has happened before, far too often, with certain Members of this Court when, in fact, they’re just FOOLS and 'LAPDOGS' for the RINOS and Radical Left Democrats and, not that this should have anything to do with it, very unpatriotic, and disloyal to the Constitution. It is my opinion that the Court has been swayed by Foreign Interests, and a Political Movement that is far smaller than people would think — But obnoxious, ignorant, and loud!"
