



Mint Explainer | How the US Supreme Court order blunts Trump’s tariff threat
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The US Supreme Court’s ruling blocking the use of emergency powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs has significantly narrowed the executive branch’s trade toolkit. While the administration can still pursue tariffs under other statutes, those routes are more constrained, procedurally demanding and legally vulnerable.
“By holding that the IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs, the Supreme Court has effectively removed the legal foundation for emergency-based reciprocal duties that were used as the negotiating baseline," said Agneshwar Sen, trade policy leader, EY India. “For India, this will require a redrawing of the structure of the trade deal. Any US offer to reduce applied tariffs in exchange for MFN liberalization now requires a firmer statutory basis, potentially involving Congress.
This may slow the deal finalization, but it will enhance legal certainty and reduce the risk of sudden executive tariff actions," Sen added. Mint explains: The legal battle began on 2 April 2025, when Trump declared America’s long-running trade deficit a “national emergency" and imposed a 10% tariff on nearly all imports, later raising duties to as high as 50% for countries including Brazil and India. The administration argued that decades of deficits had weakened US industry and posed an economic threat.
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