What Smart People Are Saying About the Supreme Court’s Tariff Decision

President Donald Trump issued a stinging rebuke of the Supreme Court for striking down most of his tariffs.

“Others think they’re being politically correct, which has happened before far too often with members of this court,” Trump said. “They are just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOS and radical left Democrats.”

Trump vowed to press on with his trade agenda, starting with a sweeping 10% global tariff that will be in addition to any existing tariffs.

Wedbush’s Dan Ives said the ruling could be a “net positive” for tech companies if refunds are issued.

“With ~$133.5 billion in tariff revenue up for grabs if the US tariff ruling leads to refunds for organizations, we believe this would act as a net positive for tech with financial relief for many companies while creating greater supply chain visibility especially coming from the Asia supply chain,” Ives wrote in a note. “This will be a very noisy situation but for the tech space and AI trade it’s a net positive out of the gates in our view.”

Chief Justice John Roberts’ ruling did not explicitly address what companies that paid the now-invalidated tariffs may be entitled to.

The US Chamber of Commerce and the National Retail Federation hailed the court’s decision.

“Swift refunds of the impermissible tariffs will be meaningful for the more than 200,000 small business importers in this country and will help support stronger economic growth this year,” Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.

The National Retail Federation called on a lower court “to ensure a seamless process to refund the tariffs.”

“The refunds will serve as an economic boost and allow companies to reinvest in their operations, their employees and their customers,” David French, executive vice president of government relations, said in a statement.

Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the decision “strengthens” his country’s view that Trump’s emergency tariffs were “unjustified.”

“Although Canada has concluded the best trade agreement with the United States among all its trading partners, we recognize that there is still much to be done to support Canadian businesses and workers who continue to be affected by the tariffs imposed under Section 232 on the steel, aluminum, and automotive sectors,” LeBlance wrote in a post on X.

Notably, Section 232 tariffs are not included in Friday’s ruling, underscoring that Trump still has additional tools at his disposal for his trade policy.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans would find a way forward after the setback.

“No one can deny that the President’s use of tariffs has brought in billions of dollars and created immense leverage for America’s trade strategy and for securing strong, reciprocal America-first trade agreements with countries that had been taking advantage of American workers for decades,” Johnson said in a statement posted on X. “Congress and the Administration will determine the best path forward in the coming weeks.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took a victory lap after the ruling.

“Donald Trump’s failed economic policies and global trade war waged with irresponsible, on-again, off-again tariffs on our allies and trading partners have generated massive uncertainty, threatened the economic well-being of the American people and damaged our country’s standing around the world,” Jeffries said in a statement.

The Top House Democrat said his party will “push back aggressively in Congress” on Trump’s tariffs.

Despite being in the minority, all but one House Democrat recently joined with six Republicans to approve a largely symbolic rebuke of Trump’s emergency tariffs on Canada. It was unclear if the resolution would have passed in the Senate. Trump was widely expected to veto it if it arrived on his desk.

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Trump lacked the power to impose such tariffs on Canada.

Correction: February 20, 2026 — An earlier version of this story misspelled Hakeem Jeffries’ name.