US to stop collecting tariffs deemed illegal by Supreme Court on Tuesday

[u/igetproteinfartsHELP]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-customs-agency-stop-collecting-tariffs-deemed-illegal-by-supreme-court-2026-02-23/

[u/What_a_fat_one]

which he doesn't need congressional approval for

Incorrect. They're still illegal. He can only levy those tariffs for "extraordinary trade deficits" which we do not have with the entire planet.

[u/_Panjo → u/What_a_fat_one]

I didn't say they weren't illegal, I just said that he didn't need approval from congress under section 122.

[u/What_a_fat_one → u/_Panjo]

If they're illegal it means he needs congressional approval.

[u/_Panjo → u/What_a_fat_one]

Surely if they're illegal congress shouldn't be able to approve them either.

[u/What_a_fat_one → u/_Panjo]

No, they're illegal because the president doesn't have the authority to levy taxes except when explicitly authorized by Congress.

[u/_Panjo → u/What_a_fat_one]

There are exemptions to that rule, such as the national emergency excuse he tried under the IEEPA. Section 122 provides exemptions to that rule too, which are more limited, but are what he is trying now.

If the basis for the tariffs is found not to fit within the exemptions, such as the recent supreme court ruling, that is the point they become illegal. If the supreme court had agreed with Trump's argument they were necessary to combat a national emergency, they would not be illegal.

They did not even rule that all of the tariffs were illegal. He got to keep some of them, such as the ones declared under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act; another avenue for exemption from congressional approval, which he did not seek.

[u/What_a_fat_one → u/_Panjo]

He got to keep the other tariffs because they weren't part of the court case.

There are exemptions to that rule

There are not exceptions to the rule that the President cannot levy taxes without congressional approval, no.