The Court has knocked out a blunt instrument—yet left plenty of sharper ones on the table.
Fashion executives have spent the past year modelling chaos: tariff rates that shifted fast, hit broadly, and turned forecasting into guesswork. On February 20th 2026, America’s Supreme Court clipped that volatility—at least partially—by ruling 6–3 that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were unlawful, because the president exceeded statutory authority.
The immediate consequence is financial: the ruling opens the door to large-scale refunds for importers that paid IEEPA-based duties—potentially tens of billions—though the mechanics will be slow, document-heavy and litigated.
For brands, relief comes through cost and planning. Unwinding broad tariffs should ease pressure on merchandise margins and reduce the need for constant scenario planning—especially for smaller labels for whom tariffs are a working-capital shock. But the bigger prize is not cheaper goods; it is predictability across long supply chains, where lead times make overnight policy swings ruinous.
This is not the end of tariffs—only the end of open-ended “emergency” tariffs under IEEPA. The administration has already signalled alternative routes, including a time-limited global surcharge under other trade authorities, and it retains targeted tools under statutes such as the Trade Act of 1974. The strategic response for apparel is therefore two-track: prepare refund claims while diversifying sourcing and contracts for a world where trade pressure becomes narrower—but still real.
