Retail and apparel stocks spiked Friday morning after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Shares of Victoria’s Secret jumped as much as 5.6% as Dollar Tree cashed in with a 4% pop and Abercrombie & Fitch flexed a 5.5% gain. Lululemon and Dick’s Sporting Goods saw smaller spikes.
The National Retail Federation welcomed the Supreme Court’s blockbuster decision stating Congress, not the president, has the power to impose tariffs.
The decision “provides much-needed certainty for US businesses and manufacturers,” David French, an executive for the trade group, told the New York Times.
He also voiced hope that businesses will see refunds.
Refunds “will serve as an economic boost and allow companies to reinvest in their operations, their employees and their customers,” he said.
American consumers are likely never to see refunds themselves, though.
In a 6-3 vote, the highest court in the land found that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Trump used to apply broad, across-the-board levies — including a 10% baseline rate and additional tariffs on America’s biggest trading partners over the shipping of fentanyl to the US — does not authorize the imposition of duties.
US businesses and consumers paid about 90% of the cost of the president’s weeping tariffs last year — contradicting the president’s repeated claims that foreign countries were footing the bill — according to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York late last week.
Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett rejected that study.
