The US Supreme Court on Friday ruled Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs illegal — a stunning political setback that blocks the signature policy of the president’s economic agenda.

The conservative-majority high court ruled six-three in the judgment, saying that an emergency powers law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) “does not authorise the President to impose tariffs.”

The ruling does not impact sector-specific duties that Trump has separately imposed on imports of steel, aluminum and various other goods. Several government probes which could ultimately lead to more such sectoral tariffs remain in the works.

Still, this marks Trump’s biggest defeat at the Supreme Court since returning to the White House last year.

While Trump has long relied on tariffs as a lever for pressure and negotiations, he made unprecedented use of emergency economic powers in his second term to slap new duties on virtually all US trading partners.

These included “reciprocal” tariffs over trade practices that Washington deemed unfair, alongside separate sets of duties targeting major partners Mexico, Canada and China over illicit drug flows and immigration.

The court on Friday noted that “had Congress intended to convey the distinct and extraordinary power to impose tariffs” with IEEPA, “it would have done so expressly, as it consistently has in other tariff statutes.”

The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices joined three conservatives in Friday’s ruling, which upheld lower court decisions that tariffs Trump imposed under IEEPA were illegal.

Conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in delivering his opinion, noted that “IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties.”

A lower trade court ruled in May that Trump overstepped his authority with across-the-board levies and blocked most of them from taking effect, but that outcome was put on hold as the government sought an appeal.

– ‘Much-needed certainty’ –

US business groups cheered the ruling, with the National Retail Federation saying this “provides much-needed certainty” for American firms and manufacturers.

“We urge the lower court to ensure a seamless process to refund the tariffs to US importers,” the federation said.

The justices did not address the degree to which importers can receive refunds.

But Kavanaugh warned that this process — as acknowledged during oral arguments — could be a “mess.”

EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco told AFP that the loss of IEEPA tariff revenues for the US government could amount to around $140 billion.

The ruling will likely bring the average tariff rate from 16.8 percent to around 9.5 percent, he added ahead of the ruling.

But lower levels will likely be temporary as the government seeks other ways to reimpose some of the sweeping duties, he added.

The Budget Lab at Yale University similarly estimates consumers face an average effective tariff rate of 9.1 percent with Friday’s decision, down from 16.9 percent. But it said this “remains the highest since 1946,” excluding 2025.

– Constrained ambition –

For now, the European Union said it was studying the court ruling and will remain in close contact with the Trump administration.

Britain plans to work with the United States on how this affects a trade deal between both countries, while Canada said the decision affirms that Trump’s tariffs were “unjustified.”

Striking down the emergency tariffs “would constrain the president’s ambitions to impose across-the-board tariffs on a whim,” said Erica York of tax policy nonprofit the Tax Foundation.

But it still leaves him other statutes to use for tariffs, even if they tend to be more limited in scope — or require specific processes such as investigations — York told AFP.

“The ruling dismantles the legal scaffolding, not the building itself,” said ING analysts Carsten Brzeski and Julian Geib of Trump’s trade restrictions.

WASHINGTON

A U.S. citizen was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent in Texas last year during a late-night traffic stop — a death the Department of Homeland Security never publicly disclosed, newly released records show.

Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, died March 15, 2025, on South Padre Island. His killing would mark the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since President Donald Trump launched his second-term immigration crackdown.

Local media reported the death at the time. But federal and state authorities did not reveal that a Homeland Security Investigations team was involved.

On Friday, after the records emerged, DHS said the driver “intentionally ran over” an HSI special agent, prompting another agent to fire “defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public.”

The heavily redacted internal ICE documents were obtained by American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog, through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

The disclosure raises fresh questions about transparency as federal immigration enforcement intensifies — and about how many more such killings may remain hidden from public view.

By James Kisoo

SAVANNAH, Ga.

The kindergarten and first graders in Linda Davis’ special education classes sobbed when they learned their teacher wouldn’t be coming back.

Davis, 52, was killed Monday during her morning commute, less than a half mile from Herman W. Hesse K-8 School, where she greeted students each day with an infectious smile.

Authorities say a Guatemalan man fleeing a traffic stop by immigration officers crashed his pickup truck into her car.

“It was extremely difficult to tell 5 and 6 year olds that the teacher they loved and cherished will not be returning to see them,” Principal Alonna McMullen said. “To see the looks on their faces, it broke my heart.”

Days later, grief still hangs over the school. Teachers are trying to maintain normal routines. Students in Davis’ two special education classes draw pictures of her to cope.

Faculty crafted banners in her memory for Thursday’s home basketball game.

On their daily commutes, many pass the crash site where a cross of red roses and bouquets now stand in the median. A paper sign reads: “Rest In Peace & Power, Dr. Davis.”

Davis leaves behind a classroom full of young children who are learning to say goodbye.

By James Kisoo

WASHINGTON

All truck and bus drivers must now take their commercial driver’s license tests in English, the Trump administration announced Friday, expanding an aggressive campaign to improve road safety and weed out unqualified drivers.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the new requirement ensures drivers can read road signs and communicate with law enforcement. While federal rules have long required English proficiency, many states have allowed testing in other languages.

California alone offered CDL tests in 20 languages.

That’s now over.

Duffy said some states outsourced testing to private companies that failed to enforce federal standards, allowing drivers to bypass both English and driving requirements.

The crackdown comes just days after the Transportation Department ordered 557 driving schools to close for safety violations. It also follows a series of fatal crashes involving unqualified drivers.

In August, a truck driver who Duffy said was not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn in Florida, killing three people. Earlier this month, a crash in Indiana killed four members of an Amish community.

“States have not been enforcing the standards,” Duffy said. “That ends now.”

By James Kisoo

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump warned Friday that limited military strikes against Iran are possible, even as Tehran’s top diplomat said a proposed nuclear deal could be ready within days.

Asked whether the U.S. might take limited action while negotiations continue, Trump told reporters, “I guess I can say I am considering that.”

Hours later, he delivered a sharper message: Iran “better negotiate a fair deal.”

The comments came as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a TV interview that his country expects to finalize a draft deal in “the next two to three days” to send to Washington. He later told MSNBC that “real, serious negotiations” could begin within a week.

The dueling signals reflect mounting tensions between the longtime adversaries.

The Trump administration is pushing for major concessions from Iran while simultaneously building up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades, with more warships and aircraft en route.

For now, both sides insist they want a deal—even as the president openly contemplates bombing.

By James Kisoo

With Israeli settler violence surging in the occupied West Bank, al-Mughayyir, north-east of Ramallah, has found itself on the frontline. It faces regular incursions by the Israeli army and has seen farmland seized by settlers who have built new outposts.

Marzoq Abu Naim from the village council says the settlers aim to force out Palestinians. “They’re doing it silently, not openly, it’s true. But this is annexation. We can’t reach our lands.”

Sitting among green rolling hills, studded with olive groves, most homes in al-Mughayir are in an area where Israel’s military controls security, but the internationally backed Palestinian Authority (PA) should provide basic services. Increasingly though, it cannot – it is mired in a deep economic crisis.

“When I go to them, they can’t give me the support I need,” Abu Naim says. “The Authority has no money!”

After the deadly 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel, some 100,000 Palestinians lost permits to work in Israel. On top of that, Israel is withholding tax transfers that it collects for the PA because of an ongoing dispute about Palestinian school texts and stipends to the families of those jailed or killed by Israel, including attackers.

The PA says it is now owed more than $4bn (£3bn; 3.4bn euros). It has been paying most public sector workers – including doctors, police officers and teachers – just 60% of their salaries. Its schools – where more than 600,000 children study – open just three days a week.

“It’s truly hard,” a mother-of-eight in al-Mughayyir tells me, explaining that the schools there also close when settlers or soldiers are nearby because of fears for the children.

“There is so much disruption that some children have reached fourth grade and still can’t read. We put them in private lessons with a teacher in the village. She starts with the alphabet so that they can learn to read from scratch.”

By Anthony Solly