On Feb. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s tariffs issued in April 2025 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The 6-3 decision ruled the president exceeded his powers without clear direction from Congress with the issuance of the tariffs under the IEEPA law, effectively nullifying the affected tariffs immediately.
In response to the decision, President Trump initially announced Feb. 20 that his administration will issue a new 10% global tariff—effective Feb. 24—under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 as an alternative to the nullified IEEPA tariffs. On Feb. 21, the president announced he would increase this global tariff to 15%. Section 122 allows tariffs to be issued by the president for up to 150 days to handle trade imbalances; the tariffs must be approved by Congress if they are to remain in place beyond 150 days. Once the Section 122 tariffs expire, the Trump administration is expected to pursue other tariffs to replace the nullified IEEPA tariffs through alternative trade authorities.
Although there is much uncertainty about the future of tariffs in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, many observers expect that trade deals with foreign nations reached in 2025 in connection with the IEEPA tariffs are generally expected to remain in place, at least at this time. Also, the court’s ruling did not directly address the issue of refunds (estimated at $133 billion) of IEEPA tariffs paid by importing companies but rather has remanded that issue to lower courts for further litigation. As such, the answer to the question of whether or when refunds will be made to entities that paid the nullified tariffs is uncertain.
It is important to note the Supreme Court decision only applies to tariffs issued under the IEEPA law and not tariffs issued under other trade laws. In particular, this ruling does not affect the tariffs on imports of steel, aluminum and copper, which were issued under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. NRCA will continue to provide updated information regarding this matter as it becomes available.
