Trump Administration Halts Collection of Controversial Tariffs: What This Means for Global Trade

In a significant move, the Trump administration announced that it will cease the collection of broad tariffs that the Supreme Court recently ruled as illegal. This decision was confirmed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sunday, following a landmark ruling last week.

The CBP clarified that these tariffs, initially imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by former President Trump, will be discontinued. The cessation is scheduled for February 24, 2026, from 12:00 a.m. Eastern time, applying to goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouses for consumption after that time.

The Supreme Court’s decision, handed down on Friday with a 6-3 vote, rejected the broad application of tariffs that President Trump had implemented. This ruling effectively curbed the president’s expansive utilization of IEEPA to impose tariffs on nearly all countries.

The IEEPA, a piece of legislation from the 1970s, grants the president the authority to regulate imports in response to national emergencies that present an “unusual and extraordinary” threat. However, the Supreme Court found that the use of this power in this instance was overreaching.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in delivering the court’s opinion, remarked, “We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs,” underscoring the court’s focus on the legal boundaries of executive power rather than economic policy.

The 1970s-era legislation allows the president to “regulate” imports when needed in response to national emergencies that pose an “unusual and extraordinary” threat.

“We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs,” Chief Justice John Roberts said.

“We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution. Fulfilling that role, we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”

During his second term, Trump’s tariff policy has shaken markets across the globe, caused rifts in relationships with American allies including the European Union and Canada and increased economic uncertainty.

Trump on Saturday announced he was raising a newly imposed global tariff to 15 percent in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dodged questions about refunds in the wake of the Supreme Court decision on tariffs.

“I do want to start with the big question, will you refund the roughly $134 billion in revenue taken by these emergency tariffs?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Bessent on “State of the Union.”

“Well, Dana, that’s not the big question. Let’s just level set here, what the Supreme Court did was a very narrow reading of the president’s authority under the IEEPA tariffs. We have other tariff authorities which have been functioning, Section 232 tariffs, Section 301 tariffs,” Bessent responded.