{"id":140476,"date":"2026-02-20T21:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T21:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/140476\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T21:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T21:52:11","slug":"new-york-elected-officials-hail-supreme-courts-decision-overturning-trump-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/140476\/","title":{"rendered":"New York elected officials hail Supreme Court\u2019s decision overturning Trump tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Business leaders and elected officials in New York applauded the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling Friday that struck down President Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a 6-3 decision<\/a>, the court ruled that Trump acted unconstitutionally in imposing tariffs on nations around the world last year without seeking or receiving Congressional approval. The president had argued that he had the authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977,<\/a> a claim New York and 11 other states contested in court last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese illegal tariffs caused immense economic chaos, raising costs for families and businesses throughout our country,\u201d said New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday. \u201cThe Supreme Court has agreed that this administration has no authority to impose massive new taxes on a whim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said the president lacked a \u201cclear congressional authorization to justify his extraordinary assertion of the power to impose tariffs.\u201d The IEEPA did not include such authorization, Roberts declared.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ruling means that the federal government must find a way to refund tariffs collected from importers. Estimates from the Penn-Wharton Budget Model put that number at more than $175 billion, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n

Two of the six justices in the majority of Friday\u2019s ruling \u2014 Amy Coney-Barrett and Neil Gorsuch \u2014 were Trump appointees to the Supreme Court.\n<\/p>\n

Trump sought to defy the Supreme Court\u2019s decision later on Friday.
\n\"PresidentPresident Trump was said to have called Friday\u2019s Supreme Court ruling overturning his tariffs a \u201cdisgrace\u201d in a meeting with governors, NBC News reported. During his first term, Trump appointed two of the six justices in Friday\u2019s majority ruling: Amy Coney-Barrett and Neil Gorsuch.\u00a0REUTERS\/Leah Millis\/File Photo\n<\/p>\n

After railing against the court\u2019s decision at a press conference, calling it \u201cdeeply disappointing,\u201d Trump announced he would issue 10% global tariffs via executive order.<\/p>\n

By law, however, such tariffs expire after 150 days without congressional authorization.\u00a0Whether the Trump administration would seek approval from the Republican-controlled Congress to keep existing tariffs or impose new ones remains unclear.<\/p>\n

Three justices sided with Trump in the case: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, whom Trump appointed to the court in his first term.\n<\/p>\n

Kavanaugh wrote in a 63-page dissent<\/a> that the president\u2019s ability to impose tariffs undermined the country\u2019s ability to leverage its position in trade negotiations. He further argued that the decision to nullify the existing tariffs would cause economic chaos, mainly from importers who would seek refunds on tariffs they\u2019ve already paid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States may be required to refund billions of dollars to importers who paid the IEEPA tariffs, even though some importers may have already passed on costs to consumers or others,\u201d the justice wrote.<\/p>\n

\u2018Enough\u2019 with tariffs, Jeffries says
\n\"\"\u201cDonald Trump\u2019s my-way-or-the-highway approach to economic policy has been a complete and total failure,\u201d House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. \u201cEnough.\u201dREUTERS\/Annabelle Gordon\/File Photo<\/p>\n

House Democratic Leader and U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, however, minced no words in saying that Trump \u201cmust refrain from any further unilateral action on tariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump\u2019s my-way-or-the-highway approach to economic policy has been a complete and total failure,\u201d Jeffries said. \u201cEnough.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader and New York U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer added that the SCOTUS ruling was \u201ca win for the wallets of every American consumer.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve said from day one: a president cannot ignore Congress and unilaterally slap tariffs on Americans. That overreach failed. Now, Trump should end this reckless trade war for good and finally give families and small businesses the relief they deserve,\u201d Schumer said.<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul said the Supreme Court\u2019s \u201cclear\u201d decision affirmed, in her view, that the tariffs served as \u201can unlawful backdoor tax on hardworking families, farmers and small businesses, raising prices on everything from groceries to building materials.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stood up to these reckless policies because New Yorkers were paying the price, and today the Court agreed,\u201d Hochul said Friday. \u201cMy administration will keep fighting to protect New Yorkers and make sure Washington helps \u2014 not hurts \u2014 the people we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica Walter, president and CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, said the Trump tariffs proved costly and confusing for myriad retailers, manufacturers, and small business owners who had \u201cbeen forced to navigate a minefield of fast-changing trade rules\u201d that made it \u201cnearly impossible to plan inventory, manage contracts or price products predictably.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: while the United States must confront unfair trade practices, blunt enforcement measures often do more harm than good here at home,\u201d Walter said. \u201cThe costs and instability caused by these tariffs forced too many Manhattan businesses to freeze hiring and investment, pass costs on to consumers, or\u2014in the worst cases\u2014close their doors entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n

She urged federal lawmakers \u201cto respect the finality of this ruling and resist the temptation to immediately reimplement these levies through alternative legal channels.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Importers and consumers pay the tariffs
\n\"ImportedUnlike taxes, tariffs are imposed when an importer brings goods into the country. Basically, any company that imports goods first pays the tariff at customs. But once those goods have passed through the ports of entry, you, the consumer, cover the importers\u2019 tariff costs through higher prices for the imported goods you\u2019re buying.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

Unlike taxes, tariffs are imposed when an importer brings goods into the country. Basically, any company that imports goods first pays the tariff at customs.<\/p>\n

But once those goods have passed through the ports of entry, you, the consumer, cover the importers\u2019 tariff costs through higher prices for the imported goods you\u2019re buying. When the tariff goes up, so does the price of the items you buy.<\/p>\n

In short, according to New York U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the tariffs are a hidden tax on the average American that has already cost families thousands of dollars.\u00a0The Tax Foundation, a Washington think tank, recently released a report<\/a>\u00a0finding that, on average, American families lost $1,000 per household due to\u00a0<\/a>higher tariffs<\/a> and would lose up to $1,300 more this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies in New York have already seen their costs go up by $4,200 because of the Trump Tariff Tax and can\u2019t afford any more financial strain,\u201d Gillibrand said. \u201cI urge President Trump to respect this ruling, reimburse our small businesses for these illegal taxes, end these harmful tariffs immediately, and focus on lowering the cost of living for American families.\u201d<\/p>\n

With reporting by Barbara Russo-Lennon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Business leaders and elected officials in New York applauded the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling Friday that struck down President…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59367,59368,59369,59370,59371,59372,54599,59373,9,3594,11,10,59374,613,59375,59376,59377,59378,59379],"class_list":["post-140476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-chief-justice-john-roberts-opinion","tag-chuck-schumer-statement","tag-gov-kathy-hochul-response","tag-hakeem-jeffries-reaction","tag-international-emergency-economic-powers-act","tag-kirsten-gillibrand-comments","tag-manhattan-chamber-of-commerce","tag-nbc-news-coverage","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-attorney-general-letitia-james","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-penn-wharton-budget-model-estimate","tag-pm-newsletter","tag-reuters-reporting","tag-supreme-court-ruling","tag-tariff-refunds-175-billion","tag-tax-foundation-report","tag-trump-tariffs-struck-down"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}