US Supreme Court defers ruling on Trump’s tariffs

The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs.

The court, which does not usually announce in advance the rulings which will be released on a given date, did not announce the next date for the hearing.

The court did issue three rulings on Tuesday, but did not decide on the highly-anticipated issue of the legality of Trump’s tariffs, Reuters news agency reported. The court had, last week too, held back decision on the challenges to the US President’s global tariff policy.

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The arguments made during the November 5, 2025 hearing on the matter had indicated that the court was skeptical that Trump had the authority to impose tariffs under a 1977 law, which gives special powers to the President under emergency situations.

The deferring means it will be at least another month before a challenge to Trump’s signature economic policy is resolved, Bloomberg reported. This is because the US Supreme Court is preparing to enter a four-week recess, and given its usual procedures for the releasing of opinions, the next potential day for the ruling on tariffs could be February 20.

Earlier, the court’s expedited handling of the matter had raised hopes that a conclusive ruling was on the cards. If the decision given the court on global tariffs goes against Trump, it would be the biggest legal defeat for the US President since his return to the White House, according to Bloomberg.

The matter before the US Supreme Court involves Trump’s April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, which had placed levies of 10-50 per cent on most imports. Duties were also imposed on Canada, Mexico and China, with Trump citing fentanyl trafficking as the reason to do so.

The ruling against Trump could also mean more than $130 billion in refunds, and could cause harm to his current threat to impose more tariffs on European nations if they oppose US plans to take over Greenland, Bloomberg reported.