SC tariff ruling: fiscal fallout, trade pacts and Trump’s next legal options

The US Supreme Court’s decision to strike down President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs has delivered a jolt to global markets, even as it opens a new chapter of uncertainty over trade policy, federal finances and the limits of presidential authority. In a closely watched ruling, the court invalidated tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, a 1970s statute the administration invoked to justify what Trump had branded “Liberation Day” duties beginning April 2, 2025. Stocks climbed in the immediate aftermath, with investors betting that the removal of the emergency tariffs could ease cost pressures on businesses and consumers. Yet beneath the initial optimism lies a tangle of unresolved questions: whether…