FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are illegal in a 6-3 vote.
“Today’s a good day for the rule of law. Today is a good day for affordability, something that Americans and Californians have been screaming for,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.
The lawsuit challenging Trump’s tariffs was brought forward by private groups, but California was the first state to join the case.
“I think it was a well-rounded decision that was made,” California District 21 Congressman Jim Costa said.
The Supreme Court’s decision says the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) requires mass tariff decisions to go through Congress.
Costa agrees.
“That’s not what our founding fathers had in mind. Now, 250 years of our democracy, they created a system of checks and balances that we refer to,” Costa said.
Trump calls the Supreme Court’s decision “unpatriotic.”
“Foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years are ecstatic. They are so happy and they’re dancing in the streets, but they won’t be dancing for long,” Trump said.
He announced Friday that he has new tariffs planned.
“Today I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under section 122, over and above our normal tariffs already being charged,” Trump said.
He says he won’t have to have congressional approval, but it will only last 150 days.
“In short, this is a mess. We don’t know how this is going to shape up. We don’t know what the new tariffs are going to be,” Fresno Financial Advisor Brian Ullmann said. “Both the stock market and the bond market weren’t really changed today with this decision.”
Ullmann says it’s too early to tell how the new tariffs will impact the economy, but he says lower tariffs may not reverse inflation the way many hope.
“Prices may not come back down – that’s deflation. But they may stop going up, which I think that alone would be a relief for a lot of people who are trying to make ends meet right now,” Ullmann said.
The U.S. has taken in more than $130 billion in tariff revenue in the last year, but the Supreme Court’s decision did not state whether it has to be refunded or not.
Ullmann says that will likely be in the hands of lower courts.
Some, including the governor of Illinois and the Nevada state treasurer, have already written the president letters demanding billions of dollars in refunds.
