Cato Experts React to the Supreme Court Overruling President Trump’s Tariffs – Cato Institute

Cato Experts React to the Supreme Court Overruling President Trump’s Tariffs

The court’s decision is welcome news for American importers, the United States economy, and the rule of law, but there’s much more work to be done.

February 20, 2026 • News Releases

Washington, DC – February 20, 2026 – Following the Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision overruling President Trump’s use of emergency powers to implement widespread tariffs, scholars at the Cato Institute released a series of statements to provide independent analysis on the Supreme Court’s decision.

Scott Lincicome, Vice President of General Economics and Cato’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies:

The court’s decision is welcome news for American importers, the United States economy, and the rule of law, but there’s much more work to be done. Most immediately, the federal government must refund the tens of billions of dollars in customs duties that it illegally collected from American companies pursuant to an “IEEPA tariff authority” it never actually had. That refund process could be easy, but it appears more likely that more litigation and paperwork will be required – a particularly unfair burden for smaller importers that lack the resources to litigate tariff refund claims, yet never did anything wrong.

Even without IEEPA, moreover, other U.S. laws and the Trump administration’s repeated promises all but ensure that much higher tariffs will remain the norm, damaging the economy and foreign relations in the process. Implementing new tariff protection will take a little longer than it did in 2025 and, perhaps, will be a little more predictable. Overall, however, the tariff beatings will continue until Congress reclaims some of its constitutional authority over U.S. trade policy and checks the administration’s worst tariff impulses.

Clark Packard, Research Fellow in the Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies:

Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a victory for the rule of law. The Court rightly recognized that IEEPA, a sanctions statute designed for genuine emergencies, cannot be stretched into a blank check for the president to unilaterally rewrite the tariff code established by Congress as required by the Constitution.

This decision brings needed relief to American businesses and consumers who have borne the burden of these unlawful tariffs for nearly a year. Importers- many of them small businesses operating on thin margins—now have a path to recover billions in duties that should never have been collected. American families, who ultimately pay tariffs through higher prices, will finally see some reprieve.

But make no mistake: this ever-protectionist administration will explore other trade statutes to impose more reckless tariffs on American families and firms. The Court has done its job, reminding the executive branch that unilaterally declared emergencies cannot erase the separation of powers. Now Congress must do its job and circumscribe the president’s remaining tariff authorities before they’re abused in turn.

Kyle Handley, Adjunct Trade Scholar:

Today’s ruling reinforces a basic constitutional principle: emergency powers are not a blank check for economic policymaking. The Court correctly recognized that tariffs function as taxes on Americans, and that authority belongs to Congress, not the executive acting alone under a perpetual state of emergency. Despite dire warnings, there was never going to be a financial crisis if these tariffs were struck down.

Ending the IEEPA tariffs restores predictability and reduces the uncertainty that has weighed on investment and supply chains. Businesses and consumers now get a reprieve from a costly policy mistake. Far from leaving the United States defenseless, the decision strengthens the institutional credibility that matters most when real emergencies arise.

Ilya Somin, B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute:

Today, the Supreme Court rightly ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not give the President the power to ‘impose tariffs on imports from any country, of any product, at any rate, for any amount of time.’ It’s a major victory for the constitutional separation of powers, for free trade, and for the millions of American consumers and businesses enduring the higher taxes and higher prices as a result of these tariffs.

Brent Skorup, Legal Fellow in the Cato Institute’s Robert A Levy Center for Constitutional Studies:

The Supreme Court issued its decision today in one of the most significant cases of the term: Learning Resources v. Trump, the tariff case. At issue was whether the phrase ‘regulate importation’ in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) could be stretched to authorize the president to raise or lower tariff rates at will. 

In a 6–3 decision, the Court held that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. Cato urged that interpretation in its amicus brief. 

The case placed two important judicial impulses in tension: the Court’s longstanding deference to the Executive in matters of foreign affairs and its more recent skepticism of presidential efforts to stretch statutory text beyond recognition. Today, the Court chose to enforce meaningful limits. 

For too long, Congress has delegated sweeping authority to the executive branch in ways that strain the separation-of-powers principles at the heart of our constitutional system. This decision restores an important boundary.”

Cato filed amicus briefs in support of V.O.S. Selections and other importers.

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