The Supreme Court of the United States has struck President Donald Trump’s 2025 tariff policy, which his administration justified under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 national security law that allows the president to “regulate” imports in an emergency. In one 6-3 decisionAccording to the Supreme Court, IEEPA does not give the president permission to impose tariffs.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
“The Administration is reading IEEPA to give the President the power to unilaterally impose unlimited tariffs and change them at will,” Roberts wrote. “That vision would represent a transformative expansion of the president’s authority over tariff policy.”
Trump placed reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners on April 2, 2025 – considered “Liberation Day.” Some of the highest reciprocal tariffs were on Southeast Asian countries, including areas popular for solar panel exports. Two groups of companies have filed lawsuits challenging Trump’s authority to impose tariffs under IEEPA. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with the companies.
During the Supreme Court’s hearing of the case, hundreds of U.S. companies began filing complaints with the U.S. Court of International Trade, effectively qualifying for potential refunds. Some of the refund requests came from companies involved in the solar industry, including American Wire Group, Canadian Solar, GameChange Solar, Fluke, Hellermann Tyton, Kinematics, JA Solar, Jinko Solar, Longi, Merlin Solar, Qcells and Trina Solar.
The ruling did not outline a refund process. A coalition of small businesses, We pay the ratesasks for quick refunds.
“A legal victory is meaningless without actual relief for the companies that paid these tariffs,” said Dan Anthony, executive director of We Pay the Tariffs. “The government’s only responsible course of action now is to establish a fast, efficient and automatic refund process that returns taxpayer money to the businesses that paid it. Small businesses cannot afford to wait months or years while bureaucratic delays occur, nor can they afford expensive lawsuits just to recover money wrongfully collected from them in the first place. These businesses need their money back now.”
Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the reciprocal tariffs have a major impact on small and medium-sized businesses and should serve as a reset today.
“We encourage the government to take this opportunity to review the overall tariff policy in a way that will lead to greater economic growth, greater wage increases for workers and lower costs for families,” he said.
