Tariff pain to stay despite court ruling

Economic costs will persist as US switches to other legal routes: Experts

The US Supreme Court's Feb 20 ruling striking down President Donald Trump's use of emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs has restricted one avenue for broad duties, yet experts say the administration's switch to other legal tools means high tariffs and their economic costs are likely to continue.

"The Supreme Court's decision... invalidating the Trump administration's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, as the legal basis for broad tariffs applied to the imports from dozens of countries... has reconfigured the statutory authorities for presidential tariff powers," said Patrick T. Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and former official with the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Childress described the ruling as a "setback" for rapid, large-scale tariff imposition but noted the White House responded within hours. It shifted to Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, imposing temporary tariffs of 10 percent to 15 percent across the board for up to 150 days, while launching multiple Section 301 investigations to establish longer-term, country-specific measures without rate caps or time limits.