We heard CEOs rip into Trump’s tariffs behind the scenes and the Supreme Court just vindicated them

Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down most of President Trump’s sweeping import tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is not only the right decision, it is a profound economic relief for American businesses and consumers alike.

In a 6-3 decision, the Court made clear what many CEOs have been saying for months, publicly and privately: the tariff gambit was not only unlawful, but it has been counterproductive, as well as harmful to American businesses and the economy. 

Today’s ruling fortifies what CEOs have been telling us about tariffs all along 

CEOs have been sounding the alarm over the last year, all but begging to be liberated from liberation day. Top businesses nearly universally saw those tariffs as bad for business, no matter what Howard Lutnick and Peter Navarro said as spin.

At our last Yale CEO Caucus in Washington DC, 75% of CEOs told us that they believe the IEEPA tariffs are illegal. Meanwhile, two-thirds of the top CEOs surveyed at our event told us that U.S. tariffs have been harmful to their businesses, with 80% of CEOs telling us that at least some of the cost of tariffs have been passed onto consumers.  

As one major manufacturing CEO explained to us at our last Yale CEO Caucus, “If the U.S. government wants to help protect certain industries, they need to help those industries be successful. It is not just putting a bunch of tariffs in place and assuming those industries are going to get moved to the U.S.” This CEO urged for “incentives” to be built into the system, because consumers want products to be low-cost and certain items like power tools, hand tools, clothing, sneakers should be made elsewhere. “Does it really make sense to be manufacturing all that in the United States? I do not believe it does. I........

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