Supreme Court rules IEEPA does not authorize presidential tariffs

On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not allow the president to impose tariffs. The ruling removed the legal basis for the IEEPA tariffs that importers, including Nike, had paid during 2025 and early 2026. It did not settle how or whether those tariffs would be refunded, which is why refund claims became a later source of earnings benefit for Nike.

• Decision date: February 20, 2026 (Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, No. 24-1287)
• Holding: IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs
• Refunds of tariffs already paid were not addressed by the decision
• Nike later booked an IEEPA tariff recovery benefit in its fiscal Q4 2026 results