The Supreme Court ruling focuses on Trump’s biggest liabilities

The Supreme Court ruling focuses on Trump’s biggest liabilities

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The US Supreme Court is preparing to rule on President Trump’s tariffs, with a potential ruling as early as Friday. The court is to decide whether the president acted legally or exceeded his power.

The court heard arguments last year on whether Trump exceeded his authority under the International Economic Emergency Act (IEEPA) when he imposed tariffs on goods from nearly every US trading partner. The president said the US could have to “resolve” trade deals if he loses the Supreme Court case and warned of a “complete mess” if tariffs were cut. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US has other options in the event of defeat.

Trump, meanwhile, plans to cut some metals tariffs, including steel and aluminum products, as he and his administration try to battle an affordability crisis ahead of the midterm elections.

The move comes after he faced a rare rebuke over his tariff regime as six members of his own party crossed the line in the House of Representatives to vote to cancel Trump’s duties to Canada. But Trump himself appears to be worried about the fallout, as the Financial Times reported that the current 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum could soon see cuts similar to Trump’s cuts on certain food imports last year.

Still, Trump has kept up his threats in recent weeks as part of a recent blitz aimed at allies that rivals his bluster at the start of his second term.

Trump has threatened to hit Canadian jet imports with a 50 percent tariff and said the U.S. will also decertify all new planes from Bombardier ( BDRBF ), claiming Canada has used certification hurdles to effectively ban sales of U.S. Gulfstream jets. He also threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Canada over that nation’s trade deal with China.

Meanwhile, Mexico faces the possibility of tariffs after Trump vowed to impose new tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba.

Read more: What Trump promised with his “Deliverance Day” tariffs — and what he delivered

LIVE 132 updates

  • The Trump administration is criticizing the New York Fed study that says American consumers are bearing the cost of the tariffs

    The Trump administration is rejecting claims by the New York Federal Reserve that American consumers and businesses are bearing the brunt of President Trump’s tariffs.

    “The paper is an embarrassment,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Wednesday. “I think it’s the worst document I’ve ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve System.

    However, data from the JPMorgan Chase Institute released on Thursday also found that rates paid by mid-sized US businesses will triple in 2025.

    Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger reports on the latest news on Trump’s tariffs:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Indonesian and US firms sign more than $7 billion in trade and investment deals

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Vietnamese airlines sign $30 billion bids for 90 Boeing jets

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    US energy chief downplays interest in Greenland’s rare earths

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Japan, US reach $36 billion in gas and minerals deals in Trump pact

    Japan plans to invest up to $36 billion in critical U.S. oil, gas and mineral projects, part of Tokyo’s $550 billion commitment under the trade deal struck with President Trump last year.

    “Our MASSIVE trade deal with Japan just launched!” Trump posted on social media on Tuesday. “The scale of these projects is so huge and it couldn’t be done without a very special word, RATES.”

    Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the projects will help build more resilient supply chains through partnerships in areas crucial to economic security.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Italian exports to US rise 7% in 2025 despite Trump tariffs

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Copper falls as inventories rise on tariff fears

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Brett LoGiurato

    Bessent says any reduction in US metals tariffs until Trump

  • Brett LoGiurato

    Supreme Court adds next Friday as decision day as tariff verdict looms

    The Supreme Court has added next Friday, February 20, as a decision day, the first time in weeks it could issue a verdict on the closely watched case involving President Trump’s tariffs.

    Next Friday is listed as a non-argument session and conference day on the high court’s calendar.

    The high court heard arguments on the tariff case in November on an expedited basis, with both liberal and conservative justices raising skeptical questions about Trump’s authority to impose the tariffs.

    The tariffs in question are Trump’s “Deliverance Day” tariffs, in which the president slapped tariffs ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent on imports from nearly all U.S. trading partners. The Trump administration has said a Supreme Court defeat would only prompt it to enforce the duties through other legal means — though Trump himself has said those lawsuits would be more onerous and begged the court to uphold the tariffs.

  • Jenny McCall

    US and Taiwan finalize deal to cut tariffs and boost purchases of US goods

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Trump is playing a risky game on tariffs as he rolls back metals taxes to shore up approval

    On Wednesday night, President Trump pressed House Republicans to back his tariffs, even as the rising cost of living angered many voters.

    While six Republicans voted against the current tariffs on Canadian goods, another 210 remained loyal to Trump. But experts say that could hurt them in the upcoming midterm elections, as many voters remain concerned about rising prices.

    The Financial Times reports:

    Read more here.

  • Keith Reid-Cleveland

    NY Fed report says Americans are paying almost all of Trump’s tariffs

    A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York claims that Americans are paying for almost all of the additional costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

    Reuters reports:

    Read more from Reuters.

  • Jenny McCall

    US-China trade truce leads to break in technology bans

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Mercedes-Benz hit the $1.7 billion tariff

    The FT reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    6 Republicans cross party lines to offer rare rebuke of Trump’s tariffs on Canada

    President Trump’s tariffs faced a rebuke on Wednesday as the US House of Representatives voted to pass a resolution seeking to end the national emergency measures Trump used to impose tariffs on Canada. Six Republicans voted with Democrats to drop Trump’s tariffs against the US neighbor.

    Yahoo Finance’s Washington correspondent Ben Werschkul outlines the outcome of yesterday’s US House vote and what it means for Trump’s tariffs:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    US, Japan focus on energy and tokens for $550 billion fund

    The US and Japan are nearing completion of the first of three projects Tokyo has agreed to finance as part of its $550 billion US investment and tariff deal.

    Bloomberg reports that the three projects include a data center run by SoftBank Group Corp. (9984.T), a deepwater Gulf of Mexico oil terminal and semiconductors.

    According to the report, SoftBank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Trump wants to abandon the USMCA trade pact he negotiated

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    US Amends Declaration of India Trade Deal, Causing Confusion

    Confusion over the US-India trade deal emerged on Wednesday after the White House tweaked language on agricultural goods.

    In the updated statement, the US removed a reference to pulses, a staple food in India, which includes lentils and chickpeas.

    In the old version, the statement said India will remove tariffs on “certain pulses”, while in the new version, the word “pulses” has been removed. The old version also says that India is “committed to buying more American products,” while the new statement says “…intends to buy…”

    Countries appear to have made other changes to the statement.

    Bloomberg News reports:

  • Jenny McCall

    Trump’s tariffs come under fire as Johnson fails to lock in votes

    The US House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on whether to reject some of President Trump’s tariffs. The vote comes months before the midterm elections, at a time when many Americans are worried about the rising cost of living.

    Today’s vote will begin on a resolution to halt Trump’s tariffs on Canada, which currently include a 35 percent tariff on imported items such as steel, aluminum and copper, as well as a 25 percent tax on non-US cars. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the free trade agreement that Trump has threatened to scrap, exempts some of these goods.

    The House vote will go ahead despite Speaker Mike Johnson’s attempt to block it.

    Trump said there would be no additional cost to the American people. A report by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation found that those rates would amount to an average U.S. household tax increase of $1,000 in 2025 and $1,300 in 2026.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • US plans to cut Big Tech out of next wave of chip tariffs

    The Financial Times reports that the Trump administration plans to exempt hyperscalers Amazon ( AMZN ), Google ( GOOG ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ) from future chip tariffs as Big Tech races to build data centers to power artificial intelligence.

    The FT reports:

    Read more here.

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