The question
Whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes the President to impose tariffs.
Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump
What the Court decided
The Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not give the President the power to impose tariffs. IEEPA lets the President regulate or block certain economic transactions during a declared emergency, but it does not mention tariffs or duties, and the Court would not read a taxing power of that magnitude into that silence. The tariffs imposed under IEEPA were therefore unlawful. One case was sent back with instructions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction; in the companion case the ruling against the tariffs was affirmed.
How the justices split
6-3The Court's opinion
Roberts, joined by Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Barrett, Jackson
IEEPA authorizes the President, during a declared national emergency, to regulate or prohibit a defined set of economic transactions, but it never mentions tariffs, duties, or taxes. The power to lay tariffs is a core power the Constitution gives Congress, and the Court will not read a delegation of that power into a statute that is silent about it. The tariffs imposed under IEEPA therefore exceeded the President's authority.
Concurring
Gorsuch, writing alone
Gorsuch joined the Court and wrote separately.
Concurring
Barrett, writing alone
Barrett joined the Court and wrote separately.
Concurring in part and in the judgment
Kagan, joined by Sotomayor, Jackson
Kagan concurred in part and in the judgment, joined by Sotomayor and Jackson.
Dissenting
Kavanaugh, joined by Thomas, Alito
The dissent would have read IEEPA's broad power to regulate importation as encompassing the authority to impose tariffs, and would have upheld the tariffs as a lawful exercise of the emergency economic powers Congress delegated to the President. Thomas also filed a separate dissent.
Dissenting
Thomas, writing alone
Thomas dissented separately, taking an even broader view of the President's authority.
How we know · 3 sourced claims
The Court held that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.
Source: syllabus, Held, at 24-1287
The Court reasoned that IEEPA never mentions tariffs or duties, and the tariff power is a core congressional power the Court would not read into statutory silence.
Source: opinion of the Court (Roberts, C.J.)
Roberts, C.J., delivered the opinion of the Court, joined by Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson, JJ.; Kavanaugh, J., dissented, joined by Thomas and Alito, JJ., and Thomas, J., also dissented separately.
Source: syllabus, lineup