US Supreme Court to rule on Trump's global tariffs on January 20

The US Supreme Court is set to release its next batch of rulings on January 20 at 10 a.m. ET, with several high-profile cases still awaiting decisions, including a closely watched challenge to President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs.

The court said on its website on Friday, January 16, that it may issue opinions in argued cases when the justices meet for a scheduled sitting next Tuesday. As per long-standing practice, the Supreme Court has not specified which cases will be decided.

Among the

most consequential matters before the court is the legal challenge to Trump’s tariffs, a case that tests both the scope of presidential authority and the court’s willingness to rein in the Republican president’s expansive claims of executive power since his return to office in January 2025. The ruling could have far-reaching implications for global trade and the international economy.

During oral arguments held on November 5, both conservative and liberal justices appeared sceptical of the administration’s reliance on a 1977 law designed for use during national emergencies to justify the tariffs. Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on imports from nearly all US trading partners, citing a national emergency linked to persistent trade deficits. His administration is appealing decisions by lower courts that found he exceeded his authority.

Trump has repeatedly defended the tariffs, arguing they have strengthened the US financially. In a social media post on January 2, he warned that a Supreme Court ruling striking them down would be a “terrible blow” to the country.

The lawsuits challenging the tariffs were filed by businesses affected by the levies and by 12 US states, most of them governed by Democrats.

Several other major cases are also pending before the court, which has a 6–3 conservative majority. These include a challenge to a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark law aimed at preventing racial discrimination in voting, and a case questioning a Colorado law that bans licensed psychotherapists from engaging in “conversion therapy” for LGBT minors on free speech grounds.

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