Rimon’s Tariff Resource Center

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Sandra Lee Bell ·

Katherine E. McComic · February 23, 2026

SCOTUS Declares President Trump’s IEEPA Tariffs Unconstitutional and Void – What Next?

*LEARNING RESOURCES, INC. v. TRUMP, 670 U.S.___(2026) *

(Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Barret, and Jackson).6-3 Decision as to Parts I, II-A-1, and II-B

*Summary of Decision *

On Friday February 20, 2026, in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States held that: (1) because the Constitution vests the power to lay and collect taxes, including the power to impose tariffs, exclusively in Congress, the Executive Branch enjoys no inherent authority to impose peacetime tariffs; and therefore, any presidential power to impose peacetime tariffs must derive from a clear congressional delegation of Congress’s taxing power, and, thus (2) because the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”)—the statute under which President Trump had claimed authority over the past year to impose by Executive Orders duties on certain imports from all countries for various reasons * [1] * (the “IEEPA Tariffs”)—

lacks explicit languageauthorizing the President to impose tariffs, President Trump’s IEEPA Tariffs are unconstitutional, and therefore void.

The Court held that the broader statutory text of IEEPA and congressional practice confirm that IEEPA lacks an implicit delegation to the President of Congress’s taxing power. When Congress delegates the authority to impose customs duties—a federal tax levied on imported goods—it consistently uses explicit terms like “duty” or “surcharge” and imposes strict procedural limits. IEEPA lists nine specific actions the President may take regarding foreign commerce, such as investigating or prohibiting transactions, but notably omits any mention of tariffs or revenue-raising measures.

Furthermore, the Court reasoned that interpreting IEEPA to allow taxation would render it partly unconstitutional. If it were true that IEEPA’s use of the word “regulate” included the power to “tax”, then IEEPA would authorize the President to impose tariffs on both importation and exportation. The Constitution itself, however, expressly forbids taxing exports. Therefore, the Court held that IEEPA’s use of the word “regulate” could not possibly have been meant to include “taxation”.

To cite the Court’s conclusion:

“The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope. In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.

IEEPA’s grant of authority to “regulate . . . importation” falls short. IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties. The Government points to no statute in which Congress used the word “regulate” to authorize taxation. And until now no President has read IEEPA to confer such power.

We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs. We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution. Fulfilling that role,

we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”

*Immediate Impact and Possible Next Steps *

*Implementation: *Immediately following the Supreme Court’s decision on February 20, 2026, the President signed an Executive Order, Ending Certain Tariff Actions – The White House, which formally announced the ending of the collection of IEEPA Tariffs, specifically stating that these tariffs “shall no longer be in effect and, as soon as practicable, shall no longer be collected.” Two days later, on Sunday February 22, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) issued guidance to importers confirming how no IEEPA tariffs will be collected as of February 24, 2026, stating that all HTSUS subheadings covering EEPA tariffs will become inactive in the agency’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system for filing customs entries, as of February 24, 2026.

Refunds: Neither the Supreme Court decision, the White House EO ending the tariffs collection, nor the follow up CBP guidance contains any discussion regarding refunds of IEEPA tariffs previously paid. Moreover, there is no statement in either the February 20th EO or the February 22nd CBP Guidance of the legal basis for only starting February 24th, to not collect IEEPA tariffs, as opposed to on the same date of the Supreme Court’s decision on February 20, 2026 holding that the tariffs are not authorized under the statute used, IEEPA, i.e., the “Gap period”.

*New Alternative Tariffs: *Following the Supreme Court Decision, Presidential Proclamation, Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems – The White House, announced a new 10% ad valorem duty to be assessed on all imports, unless the product is specifically listed as exempt under the Annexes to the Proclamation. The new tariff, “import surcharge” of 10% ad valorem duty, is assessed under section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2132) (“Section 122”) “Balance of Payments authority”, which allows Presidential Proclamations of temporary (not exceeding 150 days) import surcharges and quotas on imports “in situations of fundamental international payments problems.” Even though the February 20th Proclamation ordered assessment of a 10% ad valorem duty import surcharge, on February 21, 2026, the President has stated publicly that the Administration intends to increase these new tariffs to the full 15% amount allowed under the law. So, just when IEEPA tariffs have become “no more”, there is a “across the board” new tariff in place, albeit temporarily under the stated law.

*Rimon Resource Center *

Rimon is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates as soon as practical next steps following SCOTUS’s decision begin to solidify.

It is likely that CBP will issue additional guidance in the coming weeks regarding the agency’s plan to efficiently address refunds en masse, rather than require tariff payers to file individual protest filings.

If you have any questions regarding the impact of SCOTUS’s decision on your imported products, please do not hesitate to reach out to Rimon’s International Trade and Customs Law Practice Group.

“ [1] See complete list of Affected Executive Orders imposing IEEPA tariffs in CBP Guidance: CSMS # 67834313 – Ending Collection of International Emergency Economic Powers Act Duties.”

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*Please note that the United States tariff regulation and policy are rapidly evolving. The alerts posted on this site were true and accurate at the time of posting, but please check in with your attorney before acting on any information.

This summary is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice nor does it create an attorney-client relationship with Rimon, P.C. or its affiliates.