US Supreme Court ruling on additional tariffs

On 20 February, the US Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorise the president to impose general tariffs. The court thereby overturned the government's application of this law to justify the imposition of comprehensive additional tariffs on imports since 2 April 2025.

Nevertheless, the US government is firmly pursuing its approach to trade and economic policy. Shortly after the ruling was announced, it decided to replace the IEEPA-based tariffs with new additional tariffs citing a different legal basis. These came into force on 24 February.

The new additional tariffs under Section 122 of the US Trade Act will not be applied in addition to the existing country-specific additional tariffs but will replace them for a period of 150 days. They are to be applied in addition to the most-favoured-nation tariffs already in place prior to 2 April 2025. The US government announced that it would draw up trade policy measures based on other legal grounds. At the same time, it signalled its intention to respect existing trade agreements – such as those with Switzerland – during implementation.

The Federal Council was informed of the Supreme Court's ruling and the decisions of the US government.

Under the current negotiating mandate, the aim of the ongoing negotiations remains to secure stable conditions for Swiss businesses on the US market and to improve these where possible.

The Federal Council is analysing further developments and implications and will discuss the matter at one of its next meetings.

Link: Swiss-US trade relations