The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down President Donald Trump’s expansive tariffs imposed on imports from nearly every trading partner, ruling that he exceeded his authority under a 1977 law meant for national emergencies.

In a 6-3 decision, the justices held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to unilaterally impose tariffs. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

The ruling invalidates a core pillar of Trump’s economic policy, including the widely publicized “Liberation Day” tariffs — a 10% across-the-board duty on imports from most countries, with higher rates on key partners like Canada (up to 35%), Mexico (25%), China, the European Union, Japan and South Korea. These measures, enacted via executive orders citing foreign economic threats as a national emergency, have generated more than $130 billion to $200 billion in revenue since implementation, according to estimates from the Tax Foundation and other analyses.

Roberts emphasized the limits of executive power in his opinion. “Based on two words separated by 16 others in … IEEPA—’regulate’ and ‘importation’—the President asserts the independent power to impose tariffs on imports from any country, of any product, at any rate, for any amount of time,” he wrote. The court agreed with challengers, including businesses and states like California, that such broad authority requires explicit congressional approval, not emergency declarations.

The decision affirms lower court rulings and sends related cases back to the U.S. Court of International Trade to address remedies, including potential refunds to importers who paid the duties. Those costs were largely passed on to consumers and businesses through higher prices, with studies estimating an average household impact of around $1,751 last year in states like California.

The ruling marks a rare instance where the conservative-led court has curbed Trump’s use of executive authority, echoing prior decisions limiting broad presidential actions. It does not affect all tariffs — those imposed under other statutes, such as Section 232 national security tariffs or Section 301 unfair trade practices, remain intact — but it wipes out the sweeping IEEPA-based ones central to Trump’s “America First” trade strategy.

The White House reacted swiftly. President Trump reportedly called the decision a “disgrace” in private, according to sources cited by multiple outlets. Aides indicated plans to invoke alternative trade authorities to reimpose similar measures quickly, potentially through existing laws allowing targeted tariffs. Trump is scheduled to hold a news conference Friday afternoon to address the ruling directly.

Market reaction was positive in the immediate aftermath, with U.S. stocks rising as investors welcomed reduced uncertainty over broad trade disruptions. Economists noted that removing the tariffs could shield the economy from further inflationary pressures and protect taxpayers, though uncertainty lingers over potential replacements. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that, absent new actions, the ruling could increase projected deficits by about $2 trillion over the next decade by eliminating tariff revenue.

The tariffs stemmed from Trump’s long-standing view that unfair trade practices by foreign nations justified aggressive countermeasures. Supporters argued they protected domestic industries, boosted manufacturing and forced better trade deals. Critics, including affected businesses, importers and some allies, contended they functioned as a tax on Americans, raised costs for goods and strained international relations.

States like California, which filed lawsuits challenging the tariffs, hailed the decision. Gov. Gavin Newsom called for immediate refund checks — with interest — to families and businesses, arguing the duties illegally raised costs passed on to consumers. Ports in Los Angeles and other hubs had seen shifts in import patterns due to the duties.

The case consolidated challenges, including Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump and V.O.S. Selections v. United States, highlighting how the tariffs affected everyday products from toys to wine. Importers argued the emergency declaration stretched IEEPA beyond its intent, originally designed for sanctions against hostile foreign actors rather than broad trade policy.
Dissenters, led by conservative justices, warned of practical fallout. Kavanaugh suggested the ruling might create a “mess” requiring billions in refunds while not permanently limiting future presidential tariff authority under other laws.

The decision arrives amid ongoing global trade tensions and domestic economic debates. It underscores congressional primacy in taxation and commerce, as Article I of the Constitution grants Congress the power to lay and collect duties.
For now, the ruling halts the most sweeping elements of Trump’s tariff regime, forcing the administration to pivot. Whether new measures emerge — and how trading partners respond — will shape U.S. trade policy in the coming months.

As the administration weighs next steps, businesses and consumers await clarity on import costs and supply chains. The court’s message was clear: emergency powers have limits, even for a president pursuing signature priorities.

WSJ ProUpdated Feb. 19, 2026 4:39 am ET

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Q4: 2026-02-19 Earnings Summary

EPS of $0.15 beats by $0.02

 | Revenue of $40.10M (31.51% Y/Y) misses by $203.00K

This article was written by

Follow

In today’s market, every single company is a technology company. It does not matter if you sell clothing, offer financial advice, or run a local delivery service. Your customers find you online, they buy from you through digital platforms, and they expect your services to be available 24 hours a day.

Because of this massive shift, the pressure on business owners has never been higher. Consumers today have zero patience. If your mobile application is slow, or if your website lacks the features they want, they will instantly move to a competitor. To survive and grow, a modern business must be able to create and update its digital tools incredibly fast. However, rushing to build technology introduces a terrible risk: you might accidentally leave your digital doors wide open to criminals.

In this article, we are going to explore the ultimate balancing act for modern business leaders. We will explain, using simple and clear language, how you can speed up the way your company builds its digital products while ensuring that your customer data remains completely safe.

The Speed Limit of the Past

To understand how to move faster today, we must look at why companies used to move so slowly. In the past, creating new software or updating a website was a long, divided process.

Imagine a factory where the people who design the cars never speak to the people who actually put the engines together. That is how the tech world used to work. One group of people (the developers) would spend months writing computer code in a quiet room. When they finally finished, they handed the code over to a completely different group of people (the operations team) whose job was to put that code on the internet.

Because these two teams never communicated, things broke constantly. The developers would write a great feature, but it would crash the operations team’s computer servers. They would argue, blame each other, and spend weeks trying to fix the mess. This clunky, divided system meant that releasing a simple update could take months or even years. In today’s business world, waiting months to give your customers what they want is a guaranteed way to go out of business.

Breaking Down the Walls

To survive, the most successful companies realized they had to break down the wall between the code writers and the server runners. They needed them to work together as one single, fast-moving machine.

This new way of working is known as DevOps (a simple combination of the words Development and Operations). The goal is to use teamwork and clever automated tools to build, test, and release new software every single day, rather than once a year.

However, changing the entire culture of how a business operates is incredibly difficult. You cannot just tell two different teams to start working together and expect perfect results. They need new rules, new communication skills, and new software tools to automate the boring parts of their jobs.

Because this change is so complex, smart business leaders rarely try to figure it out alone. Instead, they look for outside guidance and invest in professional Devops Consulting.

Bringing in an expert consultant is like hiring a master coach to train your staff. These experts study how your business currently builds its technology. Then, they introduce specialized tools that act like a digital assembly line. Instead of a human manually moving files around, the automated tools take the new code, test it for basic errors, and push it live to the internet in a matter of minutes. This expert guidance helps a business transform from a slow, divided company into a high-speed digital powerhouse, allowing them to release new features to their customers constantly.

The Hidden Risks of High Speed

Thanks to these new methods, businesses can now build and update their digital products faster than ever before. But moving at lightning speed brings a very serious new danger.

When humans work quickly, they make mistakes. In a physical factory, a tired worker moving too fast might forget to tighten a bolt. In the digital world, a programmer rushing to release a new app update might accidentally make a tiny typing error in the computer code. They might accidentally leave a digital folder unlocked, or they might use an older piece of code that has a known flaw.

To the average person, these tiny mistakes are completely invisible. But to a cybercriminal, they are massive opportunities. Hackers are always scanning the internet, looking for companies that have left a digital window open by mistake.

Many small and medium-sized business owners think they are safe because they are not massive corporations. This is a dangerous myth. Cybercriminals actually prefer targeting smaller businesses because they know smaller companies usually have weaker security. If a hacker finds a mistake in your fast-moving code, they will break in. They can steal your private business plans, copy your customers’ credit card numbers, or lock your entire computer system until you pay a massive ransom. The financial and reputational damage from this kind of attack can destroy a growing business overnight.

Automating Your Security Guards

So, here is the ultimate business puzzle: how do you build technology fast enough to beat your competitors, but safely enough to keep the hackers out?

You cannot ask a human security guard to stop and read every single line of code you produce. If you do that, you lose all the speed you just worked so hard to gain. The only way to fight automated, fast-moving hackers is with automated, fast-moving defense systems.

You must set up a system that constantly checks your own digital building for open windows before the criminals find them. The most effective way to do this is by making regular Vulnerability Scanning a core part of your daily business routine.

Think of this scanning process like having a team of robotic security guards that never sleep. These advanced software tools are programmed with a massive, constantly updated dictionary of every trick and attack that hackers are currently using to break into businesses.

Day and night, these scanners inspect your company’s website, your cloud storage, and the new code your team is building. They rapidly test your defenses over and over again. If the scanner finds a mistake—like a password that is too weak, or a digital door that a programmer forgot to lock—it instantly sounds an alarm.

It alerts your technology team and tells them exactly where the weak spot is located. The team can then quickly write a “patch” to fix the mistake and lock the digital door tightly. Because this entire process is automated, it does not slow down your business. It runs quietly in the background, keeping you safe while you continue to move at top speed.

Conclusion: The Mark of a Modern Leader

Leading a successful business today requires a deep understanding of how technology drives your growth. It is no longer enough to just have a website; you must have an engine that can adapt and improve constantly.

By bringing in expert consultants to unite your teams and automate your building process, you ensure your company can keep up with the demands of modern customers. At the same time, by implementing constant, automated security scanners, you ensure that every fast step forward is a safe one.

When you master both speed and security, you do more than just survive in the digital age. You build a strong, resilient, and highly trusted business that will thrive for years to come.