daniel bush
Washington correspondent

Today’s Supreme Court tariff ruling gives President Donald Trump a major setback on one of his signature economic issues. But President Trump’s trade policies won’t suddenly disappear overnight.

The court ruled that the president of the United States does not have the authority to impose broad, worldwide tariffs on any country for any reason. Under the Constitution, such power resides with Congress. However, the ruling left in place some tariffs that the United States imposes on certain goods from certain countries and provides the administration with a roadmap for rethinking its tariff policy.

Until now, Congress and courts have given presidents the leeway to impose tariffs on targeted goods or for short periods of time. For example, President Richard Nixon imposed steep tariffs on imports in 1971 to combat the currency crisis, but they remained in place for only four months. In 2003, President George W. Bush imposed tariffs on steel imports and kept them in place for about nine months.

If President Trump had followed that model closely, more tariffs might have been able to survive legal challenges. Friday’s court ruling could prompt the administration to reconsider its approach and look for ways to impose more targeted tariffs going forward.

Either way, President Trump is unlikely to give up on the issue that has driven him for decades, long before he ran for the White House. President Trump has long argued that the United States needs an aggressive tariff system to compete with China and other economic rivals. Even if the Supreme Court curbs his power to act unilaterally on trade, he won’t easily abandon that claim.