Friday, February 20

Supreme Court ruling looms on Trump’s most sweeping duties


The US Supreme Court is getting ready to hand down its decision on President Trump’s tariffs, with a potential ruling as soon as Friday.

The court heard arguments last year on whether Trump exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) when imposing tariffs on goods from virtually every US trading partner. The president has said that the US may have to “unwind” trade deals if it loses the Supreme Court case and warned of a “complete mess” if tariffs were struck down. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US has other options in case of defeat.

Meanwhile, Trump plans to roll back some tariffs on metals, including on steel and aluminum goods, as he and his administration seek to battle an affordability crisis ahead of the midterm elections.

The move comes after he faced a rare rebuke over his tariff regime, as six members of his own party crossed lines in the House of Representatives to vote to scrap Trump’s duties on Canada. But Trump himself appears to be worried about the consequences, as The Financial Times reported that the current 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum could soon see carveouts in a similar manner to Trump’s reductions on certain food imports last year.

Trump has, however, also kept up his threats in recent weeks, part of a recent blitz aimed at allies that rivals his bluster from early in his second term.

Trump threatened to hit Canada’s aircraft imports with a 50% tariff and said the US would also decertify all new jets from the likes of Bombardier (BDRBF), claiming Canada has used certification hurdles to effectively ban the sale of US Gulfstream jets. He also threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Canada over that nation’s trade deal with China.

Meanwhile, Mexico is facing the possibility of levies after Trump promised to impose new tariffs on countries providing oil to Cuba.

Read more: What Trump promised with his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs — and what he delivered

LIVE 135 updates

  • Jenny McCall

    US tariff revenue at risk in SCOTUS ruling tops $175B: Penn-Wharton

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Trump meets Novartis CEO, says drugmaker building 11 US plants

    Novartis (NVS) CEO Vas Narasimhan met with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday, where the president said the company is set to build 11 plants in the US.

    Trump hit Switzerland with 39% tariffs last year, but then agreed to cut the duties to 15% in November. Last month, Novartis said it expected to be protected from tariffs under some agreements with the US and strong domestic manufacturing.

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Indonesia secures 19% tariff deal with US, palm oil and other commodities exempt

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Trump administration slams New York Fed study that says US consumers bear the cost of tariffs

    The Trump administration is pushing back on claims from the New York Federal Reserve that US consumers and businesses are bearing the brunt of higher costs due to President Trump’s tariffs.

    “The paper is an embarrassment,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Wednesday. “I think it’s the worst paper I’ve ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve System.

    However, data from the JPMorgan Chase Institute, released Thursday, also found that tariffs paid by midsize US businesses tripled in 2025.

    Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger reports on the latest news on Trump’s tariffs:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Indonesia, US firms sign over $7B in trade, investment deals

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Vietnamese airlines sign $30-billion deals for 90 Boeing jets

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    US energy chief downplays interest in Greenland’s rare earths

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Japan, US reach $36B of gas, mineral deals in Trump pact

    Japan plans to invest up to $36 billion in US oil, gas, and critical mineral projects, part of Tokyo’s $550 billion commitment under the trade agreement it struck with President Trump last year.

    “Our MASSIVE Trade Deal with Japan has just launched!” Trump posted on Tuesday on social media. “The scale of these projects are so large, and could not be done without one very special word, TARIFFS.”

    Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that the projects will help build more resilient supply chains through partnerships in crucial areas for economic security.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Italian exports to US rise 7% in 2025 despite Trump’s tariffs

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Copper falls as stockpiles rise due to tariff fears

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Brett LoGiurato

    Bessent says any narrowing of US metals tariffs up to Trump

  • Brett LoGiurato

    Supreme Court adds next Friday as decision day as tariff verdict looms

    The Supreme Court has added next Friday, Feb. 20, as a decision day, the first time in weeks it could potentially issue a verdict on the closely watched case involving President Trump’s tariffs.

    Next Friday is listed as a non-argument session and conference day on the high court’s calendar.

    The high court heard arguments on the tariff case in November on an expedited basis, and both liberal- and conservative-leaning justices asked skeptical questions about Trump’s authority to impose the tariffs.

    The duties at issue are Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, in which the president slapped levies ranging from 10% to 50% on imports from virtually all US trading partners. The Trump administration has said a defeat at the Supreme Court would only prompt it to impose the duties via other legal means — though Trump himself has said those processes would be more cumbersome and has implored the court to uphold the tariffs.

  • Jenny McCall

    US, Taiwan finalize deal to cut tariffs, boost purchases of US goods

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Trump plays risky game on tariffs as he unwinds metals duties to bolster approval

    On Wednesday night, President Trump pressured House Republicans to support his tariffs, even though rising living costs have upset many voters.

    While six Republicans voted against his current tariffs on Canadian goods, 210 others remained loyal to Trump. But experts say this could harm them in the upcoming midterm elections, as many voters remain concerned about rising prices.

    Financial Times reports:

    Read more here.

  • Keith Reid-Cleveland

    NY Fed report says Americans pay for almost all of Trump’s tariffs

    A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York argues that Americans are paying for almost all of the additional costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

    Reuters reports:

    Read more from Reuters.

  • Jenny McCall

    US-China trade truce leads to pausing of tech bans

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Mercedes-Benz hit with $1.7 billion tariff bill

    The FT reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    6 Republicans cross party lines to offer a rare rebuke of Trump’s tariffs on Canada

    President Trump’s tariffs faced a rebuke on Wednesday as the US House of Representatives voted to pass a resolution seeking to terminate the national emergency measures Trump used to impose tariffs on Canada. Six Republicans voted with Democrats to scrap Trump’s tariffs against the US’s neighbor.

    Yahoo Finance’s Washington Correspondent Ben Werschkul outlines the outcome of yesterday’s vote by the US House of Representatives and what it means for Trump’s tariffs:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    US, Japan zero in on energy and chips for $550B fund

    The US and Japan are nearing the completion of the first of three projects that Tokyo agreed to fund as part of its $550 billion investment in the US and tariff agreement.

    Bloomberg reports that the three projects include a data center led by SoftBank Group Corp. (9984.T), a deep-sea oil terminal in the Gulf of Mexico, and semiconductors.

    According to the report, SoftBank didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Trump wants to quit the USMCA trade pact he negotiated

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *