UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Importers brace for $150 billion tariff refund fight if Trump loses at SC

Q1. Among the statutory authorities underpinning the United States' 2025 tariff architecture, which one accounted for the single largest share (roughly 70%) of the tariffs subsequently struck down by the US Supreme Court in February 2026?

  • A. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 1977
  • B. Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, 1962
  • C. Section 301 of the Trade Act, 1974
  • D. Section 201 of the Trade Act, 1974

Q2. In striking down President Trump's IEEPA-based tariffs in February 2026, the US Supreme Court majority opinion principally relied on which legal doctrine?

  • A. The major questions doctrine
  • B. The non-delegation doctrine
  • C. Chevron deference
  • D. The political question doctrine

Q3. With reference to the IEEPA tariff dispute decided by the US Supreme Court, consider the following statements. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act was enacted in 1977.
  2. Its statutory predecessor was the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917.
  3. The Supreme Court's ruling against the tariffs was a 6-3 decision.
  4. The tariffs were challenged and struck down under Section 301 of the Trade Act, 1974.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 4 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q4. In the context of the US Supreme Court's IEEPA tariff ruling, the 'major questions doctrine' is best described as the principle that:

  • A. An agency or the executive may not claim authority over questions of vast economic or political significance unless Congress has clearly authorised it
  • B. Courts must defer to a reasonable executive interpretation of an ambiguous statute it administers
  • C. Federal courts will not adjudicate disputes that are constitutionally committed to the political branches
  • D. Congress may not delegate its core legislative powers to the executive branch without an intelligible principle

Q5. In early 2025, President Trump invoked IEEPA to impose fentanyl/trafficking-related tariffs on certain countries. Consider the following list of countries said to be targeted by those specific tariffs. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. Canada
  2. Mexico
  3. China
  4. Germany
  • A. 4 only
  • B. 1 and 2
  • C. 3 only
  • D. 2 and 4