President Donald Trump called the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned his signature tariffs “unfortunate” during his State of the Union address.
Trump addressed the nation several days after the Supreme Court ruled against most of his 2025 tariffs that were enacted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Despite this setback to his economic agenda, which he touted on Tuesday, Trump said he wouldn’t need to make new trade deals, even though he used the now-struck-down tariffs as his primary negotiating tool, because other countries were happy with the deals made so far.
Immediately after the SCOTUS ruling, Trump signed an executive order to impose a 10% “global tariff” under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Unlike the IEEPA tariffs, any duties under Section 122 last 150 days before requiring congressional approval.
“They’re a little more complex, but they’re actually probably better, leading to a solution that will be even stronger than before. Congressional action will not be necessary,” said Trump of his new 10% “global tariffs” at the State of the Union.
“It’s already time-tested and approved, and as time goes by, I believe the tariffs paid for by foreign countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love,” Trump added.
According to the Customs and Border Protection, the US has collected around $129 billion in revenue under the IEEPA tariffs. Companies large and small have now begun the messy process of litigating for tariff refunds, and some, like FedEx, have filed lawsuits at the Court of International Trade.
Recent studies found that it was companies and consumers who pay for the majority of tariffs, including a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that said, “90% of the tariffs’ economic burden fell on US firms and consumers.”
The landmark SCOTUS ruling was made at a time when concerns about affordability and economic health were widespread. Recent data shows that while the US economy grew 2.2% in 2025, job creation stalled. Economists previously told Business Insider that this pattern is widening the gap between the wealthy and everyone else.
According to a February poll jointly conducted by ABC News, The Washington Post, and Ipsos, a majority of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling inflation, tariffs, relations with other countries, immigration, and the economy.
According to the University of Michigan’s monthly consumer sentiment survey, consumer confidence in February is more than 12% lower than in the same month in 2025.
Dana M Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board, commented in its February economic sentiment research that though consumers’ pessimistic expectations for the future “eased somewhat,” confidence remains “well below” the four-year peak achieved in November 2024.
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