Within days of beginning his second term in January 2025, the Trump administration announced sweeping tariffs on a wide range of imported goods, citing economic and national security concerns. The duties were imposed by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that allows the US President to regulate economic transactions during a declared national emergency. The administration argued that persistent trade deficits, unfair trade practices and supply-chain vulnerabilities constituted an economic emergency.
US importers and trade associations challenged the move, arguing that IEEPA does not authorise the US president to levy broad-based import tariffs and that the power to impose duties rests with the US Congress under the Constitution. In 2025, lower courts ruled against the government, holding that the emergency law had been stretched beyond its intended purpose. The tariffs, however, remained in force while the administration appealed.
The US Supreme Court's ruling will determine whether Trump acted within his statutory authority as president and whether the tariffs can legally stand.
Bitcoin climbed 2 percent after the US Supreme Court said it would not deliver a ruling on Trump’s tariffs today.
Bitcoin was trading at $89,925 at around 8:20 pm and surged to touch a high of $91,814 at 09:05 pm. It had retreated to $91,513 by 9:10 pm. The world’s largest cryptocurrency rose as traders digested the delay, which prediction markets briefly read as marginally improving the odds that the tariffs could ultimately survive judicial scrutiny. The gains come against the backdrop of Trump’s increasingly vocal support for crypto.
Odds on a US Supreme Court ruling in favour of President Donald Trump’s tariffs rose on prediction market Polymarket after the court did not issue a decision at its scheduled 8:30 PM IST. The tracker stayed in the mid-20% range throughout the day before jumping to more than 30% after no ruling was delivered. It corrected back to 25-26% soon after.
The Supreme Court has not indicated when it will deliver its ruling.
The US Supreme Court will not issue a ruling today in the legal challenge to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under emergency powers. New date for the ruling is yet to be announced.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC on January 9 that the administration has alternative legal options if the US Supreme Court rules against President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs. Speaking on Squawk on the Street, Hassett said senior officials held discussions the previous night on next steps if the court strikes down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). He said the White House could rely on other legal authorities to replicate existing trade arrangements “basically immediately,” adding that while the administration expects to prevail, it is prepared to act if it does not.
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank research analyzing 150 years of data suggests Trump’s tariffs—which pushed import levies to 17% in 2025, the highest since 1935—may reduce inflation while increasing unemployment, contrary to conventional expectations. The findings supported the Fed’s rate cuts but may not fully apply today given modern supply chain dependencies on imports.
First Published: Jan 09, 2026, 17:25
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