You have to hand it to the nine worthies in their marble palace. On February 20, 2026, they looked at President Trump’s sweeping use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to slap tariffs on everything from fentanyl pipelines to trade deficits and said, in a 6-3 ruling, “Nice try, but no.” Chief Justice Roberts, joined in the key parts by a curious mix including Justices Gorsuch and Barrett on one side and the usual suspects on the other, declared that the words “regulate . . . importation” do not stretch far enough to let the president collect duties. Tariffs, after all, are taxes, and the Constitution is pretty clear about who gets to stick their hand in the people’s pockets first: the House of Representatives.
The invalidated moves were the big ones that defined the administration’s first-year blitz. Back in February 2025, right after taking office, the president declared emergencies over the flood of deadly drugs crossing from Canada, Mexico, and China and hit those imports with 25 percent duties on most Canadian and Mexican goods and 10 percent on Chinese ones—later cranked up on the Chinese side. Then in April and May 2025 came the reciprocal broadsides: at least 10 percent on nearly everything from everywhere, with higher country-specific rates to match the imbalances, all justified by those stubborn trade deficits hollowing out American factories. The Court said those particular tools were never in the box Congress handed the executive. Game over for that round.
But here’s the thing about this president: he doesn’t sulk. He pivots. Within hours of the decision dropping on February 20, the White House ended the struck-down tariffs and fired up a fresh proclamation under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That statute lets the president slap a temporary import surcharge—up to 15 percent, lasting no more than 150 days unless Congress votes to extend it—when the country faces “fundamental international payments problems,” which is exactly what the proclamation called the $1.2 trillion goods trade deficit in 2024 and 2025, the current account shortfall, and the negative net international investment position sitting at minus 90 percent of GDP.
The initial call was 10 percent across the board, effective February 24. By the next day the rate was bumped to the full 15 percent. Exceptions were carved out for critical minerals, energy products, certain farm goods, pharmaceuticals, passenger vehicles, and a few other categories to keep the domestic economy from seizing up. Goods already in transit got a grace period. In short, the broad protection stayed in place, just wearing a different legal hat. And it is working right now.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “And as time goes by, I believe the tariffs paid for by foreign countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.” pic.twitter.com/VkN5ExaU2v
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 25, 2026
What Comes Next: More Tools, Sharper Edges
Section 122 buys time—until July 24, 2026, to be exact. After that the president can ask Congress to extend it, and with Republicans holding the levers on Capitol Hill there is every reason to expect lawmakers will do what needs doing to keep American workers shielded. But that is only the start of the arsenal still sitting on the shelf untouched by the Court.
Section 301 of the same 1974 Trade Act remains wide open. It lets the United States Trade Representative investigate unfair foreign practices and respond with tariffs, quotas, or whatever fits. That was the hammer used in the first term against China’s intellectual-property theft and forced technology transfers; it is already being dusted off for fresh investigations targeting the same bad actors and new ones. No emergency declaration required, just evidence of harm to American commerce.
Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act is still fully operational too. National-security reviews on steel, aluminum, autos, and other strategic goods have produced tariffs that the Court left alone. Expect those to expand where imports threaten defense supply chains or the industrial base that builds everything from aircraft carriers to pickup trucks.
The de minimis loophole that let junk from overseas flood in duty-free up to $800 a pop has already been squeezed under other authorities, and the administration shows no sign of loosening its grip.
Why This Matters for the Guy on the Shop Floor
The left will wail that tariffs are a tax on consumers. They always do. But the numbers tell a different story. Those earlier duties, before the Court stepped in, forced trading partners to the table and produced deals that opened markets for American exports, brought manufacturing investment home, and started reversing decades of factory flight. American workers saw wages rise in protected sectors while the trade deficit began to shrink. The temporary disruption at the checkout counter is the price of rebuilding the kind of economy where a man with a high-school diploma can buy a house and raise a family on one paycheck again.
The Supreme Court did not kill tariffs; it reminded everyone that the power to tax ultimately rests with the people’s elected representatives. Fine. President Trump has never been shy about working with Congress when it suits the country’s interests, and he has never been shy about using every lawful executive lever when it does not. The 15 percent surcharge now rolling through customs is proof. The new Section 301 probes are coming. The Section 232 expansions are ready. And if Congress wants to codify broader authority so the next president—Republican or otherwise—does not have to dance through quite so many hoops, the door is open.
This is not chaos. This is the constitutional order doing what it was designed to do: slow down reckless power grabs while letting a determined leader protect the republic’s economic sovereignty. The globalists who spent years shipping jobs to places where labor costs pennies and environmental rules are suggestions are suddenly discovering that the American worker has a champion who refuses to take no for an answer. The Court clipped one wing. Trump simply spread the other and kept flying. The factories that closed under previous administrations are not coming back by accident. They come back when someone is willing to make the importers feel the same pain they inflicted on Main Street for thirty years.
Welcome to the new normal. Tariffs are here, they are legal where they count, and they are working for the people who actually build things in this country. The rest of the world can adjust or keep losing market share. America First does not negotiate with economic surrender.