President Donald Trump launched a blistering attack on the Supreme Court on Monday and threatened to impose even steeper duties on nations he accuses of "playing games," following a landmark ruling that struck down the legal foundation of his global tariff regime. In a pair of incendiary posts on his Truth Social platform, Trump declared that any country seeking to exploit the court's decision would face tariffs "much higher" than those previously agreed upon, escalating a constitutional confrontation that has thrown U.S. trade policy into turmoil.
Presidential Fury
The crisis erupted on February 20, when the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump had exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) when he imposed sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a six-justice majority that included two of Trump's own appointees, held that the 1977 law's grant of power to "regulate importation" did not authorize the president to levy taxes or duties. "IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties," Roberts wrote, noting that in the statute's fifty-year existence, no previous president had invoked it to impose tariffs.
The decision sent Trump into what observers described as barely suppressed rage. At a White House news conference hours after the ruling, he called the justices who ruled against him "fools and lapdogs," "unpatriotic and disloyal," and alleged without evidence that the court had been "swayed by foreign interests". Three conservative justices; Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented, with Kavanaugh warning in a 63-page opinion that refunding billions in collected tariffs would be a "mess".
Plan B
Despite the setback, the administration moved swiftly to implement what officials call "Plan B." On Saturday, Trump announced he was raising a temporary global tariff from 10% to 15% on imports from all countries, the maximum level permitted under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That authority, however, expires after 150 days unless extended by Congress, a limitation that did not apply to the now-invalidated IEEPA tariffs.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signaled Sunday that the administration had found ways to "reconstruct" its punishing duties, telling ABC's "This Week" that the new approach is "very durable" legally. Greer also announced the initiation of multiple Section 301 investigations targeting unfair trade practices, including industrial overcapacity, forced labor, pharmaceutical pricing, and discrimination against U.S. technology companies. These investigations, conducted on an accelerated timeline, could yield permanent tariffs later this year.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the 15% global tariff as a "bridge" to more enduring measures, while acknowledging that the fate of more than $100 billion in tariff refunds owed to importers would be determined by lower courts, not the administration. "It is not up to the administration," Bessent told CNN .
Economic Uncertainty
The legal earthquake has sent shockwaves through global markets and trading relationships. European Union officials signaled they might pause ratification of a trade agreement brokered with Washington last year. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged Trump to treat all countries equally, warning against a new Cold War. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced plans to formulate a joint European response before traveling to Washington in early March.
Trump, however, showed no inclination toward conciliation. In his Monday posts, he singled out nations he claims have "ripped off" the United States for years and warned that they would face consequences far beyond the current tariff framework. He insisted that "as president, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of tariffs" and claimed the court's ruling had given him "far more powers and strength" to use licenses and other tools to do "absolutely 'terrible' things to foreign countries".
A Constitutional Crisis in the Making
The confrontation represents the most significant judicial check on executive power since Trump returned to office and exposes deep fractures within the conservative legal movement. The six-justice majority included Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, all appointed by Democrats along with Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, who joined Roberts's opinion. Gorsuch and Barrett also signed onto a separate plurality opinion applying the "major questions doctrine," which requires clear congressional authorization for executive actions of vast economic significance.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh's dissent, joined by Thomas and Alito, argued that "numerous other federal statutes authorize the President to impose tariffs and might justify most (if not all) of the tariffs issued in this case," citing the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and multiple sections of the Trade Act of 1974. Trump seized on that language, thanking Kavanaugh and insisting that the ruling actually made presidential tariff authority "more powerful and crystal clear".
What Comes Next
For now, the 15% global tariff remains in effect, layered atop existing Section 232 duties on steel, aluminum, and other products that were not affected by the ruling. The administration is expected to complete its Section 301 investigations in the coming months, potentially yielding a new wave of permanent tariffs. Meanwhile, importers who paid billions under the invalidated IEEPA regime await guidance from the Court of International Trade on how to recover their money, a process legal experts warn could take years.
Trump, however, shows no signs of backing down. His Monday posts suggest he views the confrontation not as a defeat but as an opportunity to escalate, using the court's ruling as justification for even more aggressive measures. With Congress largely sidelined and international partners scrambling to respond, the world now watches to see whether the president's "Plan B" will provoke a new round of trade wars, or whether the constitutional limits the court reaffirmed will ultimately contain him.