WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic leaders on Friday hailed the Supreme Court's striking down President Donald Trump's sweeping emergency tariffs as "a victory."
"The Supreme Court decision striking down the harmful Trump Tariffs is a big victory for the American people. And another crushing defeat for the wannabe King," U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on X after the decision.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the decision a "win for the wallets of every American consumer."
"Trump's illegal tariff tax just collapsed -- He tried to govern by decree and stuck families with the bill," Schumer wrote on X. "Enough chaos. End the trade war."
In a separate statement, he said that "Trump's chaotic and illegal tariff tax made life more expensive and our economy more unstable. Families paid more. Small businesses and farmers got squeezed. Markets swung wildly."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs under a law meant for use in national emergencies are illegal. In a 6-3 ruling, the court said that the tariff policies under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unconstitutional, officially striking down the tariffs Trump has introduced since April.
The justices ruled that the president did not have the authority under the IEEPA to impose import tariffs on goods from nearly all U.S. trading partners and the voting upheld that it is the right of Congress to impose taxes, not the president. ■