Washington DC [US]: In a major blow to US President Donald Trump’s signature trade policy, the US Supreme Court on February 20 invalidated most of his sweeping tariff measures, The Washington Post reported.
According to The Post, the US apex court held that the US President did not possess the authority under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose extensive import duties on goods from nearly all US trading partners.
The ruling is expected to have wide-ranging consequences for global trade, businesses, consumers, inflation trends and household finances across the country.
The verdict marks a notable shift from a series of recent wins for Trump at the Supreme Court. Over the past year, the justices had largely sided with the administration in interim orders, allowing policies such as a ban on transgender troops serving in the military, granting the United States DOGE Service access to sensitive data, and enabling significant cuts to the Education Department while legal challenges continued, The Washington Post reported.
Trump thanks Tariffs for US Market boom!
“Thank you you Mister Tariff”, writes Trump, hoping Supreme Court allows Tariff policy of Trump Administration to continue. pic.twitter.com/q0s1Ndo49k
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) January 6, 2026
The financial implications of the ruling are substantial. The tariffs in question cover trillions of dollars in trade, and the US government collected nearly USD 134 billion in levies through December 14 under the contested authority, The Washington Post reported.
According to estimates by the Tax Foundation, Trump’s trade war will cost American households approximately USD 1,100 each in 2025, The Post reported.
The judgment came days after the United States and India announced that they had reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.
The framework reaffirmed the countries’ commitment to the broader U.S.-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations, launched by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025, which will include additional market access commitments and support more resilient supply chains.
A Joint Statement had said that the Interim Agreement between the United States and India will represent a historic milestone in our countries’ partnership, demonstrating a common commitment to reciprocal and balanced trade based on mutual interests and concrete outcomes.
According to the joint statement, India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and a wide range of U.S. food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products.
The United States will apply a reciprocal tariff rate of 18 per cent under Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025, as amended, on originating goods of India, including textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber, organic chemicals, home décor, artisanal products, and certain machinery. And, subject to the successful conclusion of the Interim Agreement, will remove the reciprocal tariff on a wide range of goods identified in the Potential Tariff Adjustments for Aligned Partners Annexe to Executive Order 14346 of September 5, 2025, as amended, including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, and aircraft parts.
US had earlier imposed 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent tariff for importing oil from Russia (With inputs from ANI)
