Trade Policy

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued its opinion in Learning Resources, Inc., et al. v. Trump. The Court ruled that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. 

The Court rejected the Trump Administration’s assertion that the statutory text of IEEPA delegates Congressional tariff powers to the President, finding that Congress would not have delegated “highly consequential power” through ambiguous language.

The majority wrote, “Based on two words separated by 16 others in … IEEPA, ‘regulate’ and ‘importation’–the President asserts the independent power to impose tariffs on imports from any country, of any product, at any rate, for any amount of time. Those words cannot bear such weight.”

The decision was 6-3, with Justice Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh dissenting.

What This Means for Importers

The Trump Administration has made clear that, regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision, tariffs will remain a cornerstone of their trade and “America First” policy. 

On January 9, 2026, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said of the Supreme Court case: “Our expectation is that we’re going to win, and if we don’t win, then we know that we’ve got other tools that we can use that get us to the same place.” He also said in a Fox Business Interview that the Administration has a backup plan ready to go that would allow tariffs to be put “back into […]

We are thrilled to announce DTL’s Jennifer Diaz and Of Counsel David Craven were recently featured in an article by CNBC.

Reporter Lori Ann LaRocco dives into the recent rise in customs bond insufficiency notices in her Feb. 6 article: President Trump’s tariffs fueled U.S. Customs bond market boom. Now billions hang on Supreme Court ruling.

Here are two excerpts from the piece:

“Jennifer Diaz, board-certified international attorney at Diaz Trade Law, said the number of bond insufficiency notices issued has quadrupled since 2017 and has accelerated recently due to the volatile tariff environment.”

“David Craven, counsel to Diaz Trade, said the threat of new replacement tariffs, coupled with the existing liability facing surety companies, suggests that any refunds would not be immediate. “The fact that liability has gone up, and Customs is now asking the sureties for collateral … operations are at risk, and sureties understandably don’t want to be caught holding the bag,” Craven said.”

Read the full article here.

Jennifer Diaz was also featured in a separate CNBC piece on Feb. 12: Trump tariffs leave importers with record-breaking $3.5 billion U.S. Customs bond funding shortfall.

Jen said:

“In totality, it makes sense that insufficiencies are more than double,” said Jennifer Diaz, attorney at Diaz Trade Law. “Many companies take it for granted that a $50,000 bond should be able to cover you for […]