Supreme Court rules against tariffs in a win for the separation of powers

Washington, D.C.; February 20, 2026: This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a major victory for the separation of powers, ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not allow the President to impose tariffs.

“The Supreme Court’s decision is a win for the separation of powers and the American people,” Oliver Dunford, a senior attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, said. “The Court held that the power to regulate does not include the power to tax, and Congress did not delegate away its taxing power in IEEPA. As the Chief writes, only Congress has the power to tax. That’s what PLF argued in our lawsuit against the tariffs, and it’s heartening to see the Court embrace real limitations on Congress’ power to hand away core powers to the executive.”

In Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump—in which PLF  submitted a friend-of-the-court brief—several corporations, among others, sued the president for unlawfully interpreting a congressional statute to impose tariffs on nearly every nation worldwide. The businesses asked the Supreme Court to determine whether IEEPA authorized the President to impose tariffs and, if so, whether Congress unconstitutionally delegated that legislative authority to the President.

The 6–3 decision held that in enacting IEEPA, Congress did not delegate “the distinct and extraordinary power to impose tariffs,” a power that the Constitution vested in Congress.

The Supreme Court’s decision is welcome news for PLF’s clients in Princess Awesome v. Customs, who filed a similar lawsuit challenging the tariffs last year. Princess Awesome and 10 other businesses represented by PLF faced millions of dollars in additional fees, threatening their survival.