Episode summary
Trump’s Global Tariffs Struck Down by US Supreme Court | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Greg Stohr, Kate Sullivan, Olu Sonola, Alan Eyre
Summary
The Supreme Court dealt Donald Trump’s tariff program its sharpest legal setback since he returned to office, ruling 6-3 that he exceeded his authority by using a federal emergency law to impose broad global tariffs and some fentanyl-related import taxes. A Bloomberg News reporter said the ruling knocked out more than half of the tariffs Trump had imposed since returning to office, while leaving lower courts to sort out refund disputes that could reach $170 billion.
The host and guests focused on what Trump can do next. A White House correspondent said the president is preparing new tariff actions under other statutes, including a possible 10% across-the-board tariff, but those tools appear narrower, more cumbersome, and potentially temporary. An analyst from Fitch Ratings said the decision brings back tariff uncertainty and could affect pricing and capex decisions, even if some exemptions keep the hit manageable.
The discussion also covered the market reaction, with stocks rising on the ruling and Treasury yields moving higher on expectations that tariff revenue may fall. Later, the program turned to Trump’s warning of possible military action against Iran, with a diplomatic analyst saying the region appears to be moving toward hostilities in the coming days or weeks.
Key takeaways
- The Supreme Court said Trump could not use emergency powers to impose the tariff program he relied on most, according to the Bloomberg News reporter.
- Refund litigation could become a major fight, with potential claims reaching $170 billion, the reporter said.
- The White House correspondent said Trump plans to replace struck-down tariffs with new actions under section 122 and section 301.
- Olu Sinola of Fitch Ratings said the ruling reintroduces tariff uncertainty and could influence pricing and capex decisions.
- A diplomatic fellow at Middle East Institute said the U.S. and Iran appear to be moving toward hostilities soon.
Notable quotes
“the main the pillar of the tariffs that the president has been uh imposing over the last year um does not give him tariff authority”
“There will be big fights over refunds. In that press conference, the president said he expects that to be litigated uh over a matter of years”
“the president is going said that he would be signing new orders to impose tariffs to to replace some of these tariffs”
“I think if you if you had asked me this question at 10 a.m. obviously I would have said h yeah it's GDP print the GDP print the inflation print”
“I do think that to the extent that we have the 10% if the the the administration follows through with all of the exemptions, it's going to be fine”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens.
The Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenbec on Bloomberg Radio. We head to DC. Bloomberg News Supreme Court reporter Greg Stewart was listening to President Trump as well.
He is in uh the Bloomberg News Bureau in the nation's capital. Greg, it's a big day. It we kind of expected the this outcome, but I don't know that we expected the decision today, but exactly what was the decision and the significance of it?
Walk us through it. So the significance is that the main the pillar of the tariffs that the president has been uh imposing over the last year um does not give him tariff authority. The Supreme Court said it knocked out more than half of the tariffs that that Donald Trump has imposed since since uh returning to office.
The Supreme Court said that statute which um gives the president certain powers during economic emergencies does not include the tariff power. And that was sort of the fundamental dividing point. The dissenting justices said yes, it it does.
Now, as the president suggested, there are other tariff authorities. He's going to try to invoke those as as much as he can, but those do tend to be more cumbersome, more limited, and so we'll see just how much he's able to replace the tariffs that have been struck down.
Where does this go next? Is this ever coming back to the Supreme Court, or are the next steps here really going just back to lower courts?
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- supreme court tariffs
- trump trade policy
- market reaction
- treasury yields
- fitch economic outlook
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Fitch Ratings
Watch the episode
Watch “Trump’s Global Tariffs Struck Down by US Supreme Court | Bloomberg Businessweek” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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