Trump tariffs rejected by US Supreme Court – what could this mean for the guitar industry?
The US Supreme Court has ruled that president Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he invoked a law designed for national emergencies to impose sweeping tariffs on many countries around the world starting in early 2025.
Tariffs have made up a significant bulk of Donald Trump’s economic policy since he took office for his second presidential term in January 2025, and, indeed, during his first term, too. But the Supreme Court’s latest ruling, reached on Friday, 20 February, 2026, marks a major setback to that policy, as some of the tariffs imposed by Trump have been invalidated.
READ MORE: Vista Musical Instruments acquires Scottish retailer Kenny’s Music and confirms relaunch plans
It’s important to note, though, that the ruling only applies to select tariffs – and not on all tariffs imposed since he took office.
So how might the new ruling affect the current state of play of the guitar industry? Well, it’s hard to say, but potentially not by much.
The ruling centres around tariffs, yes, but more specifically Trump’s February 2025 invocation of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which states that the sitting president can step in via executive order to regulate trade in response to a national emergency.
He said drug trafficking from China, Mexico and Canada was an emergency worthy of invoking this law. He used the same law in April 2025 to impose sweeping tariffs between 10 and 50 percent on most countries around the world.
However, it seems there’s not much cause for guitar brands to get excited quite yet, as a number of industry-specific tariffs remain in place on steel, aluminium and, crucially, lumber, under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which is unaffected by the Supreme Court’s latest ruling.
So, as it stands, much of the economic hardship faced by guitar brands in the wake of Trump’s sweeping tariffs will remain in place, but could the ruling of the highest court in the country against Trump’s tariff-heavy economic policy set a precedent in which more tariffs could later be overturned?
Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
In the wake of Trump’s tariffs last year, NAMM President and CEO John Mlynczak spoke of the “deeply interconnected” international supply chain that keeps the guitar industry healthy, and which has been affected by Trump’s tariffs.
“The reason why we have companies that can afford to build their highest-end products in the US is because they have the revenue from the mid-to-entry level products from overseas,” he said. “Our supply chain is deeply interconnected.”
“It’s not like an instrument is solely made in China or Mexico. What happens is you have certain components that are made really well in China that are then imported for final assembly. Or you have a factory in Mexico that has a specialty in making certain components that are imported. Then they are assembled in the US. This happens because this work is highly specialized.”
Mlynczak later teamed up with executives from Fender, Gibson, PRS and other guitar giants to lobby congress over wood tariffs.
“The tariffs are incredibly nuanced and complicated,” he admitted. “But there are various Section 232 investigations [an investigation by the Department of Commerce on the impact of certain imports on national security – Ed] on various industries happening right now.
“One of them is on imports of timber. And so the high level task that we wanted to work on, was making sure that we submitted letters to congress, and we submitted investigation letters through the process.
“But we also met with high-level members of Congress just to follow up and say, ‘Hey, we’ve done this… and by the way, American made brands can’t make these products unless they get wood from overseas. We don’t grow these species of wood in the United States!’”
In the wake of the new ruling, anti-tariff organisation We Pay the Tariffs has called for “swift refunds” for the affected businesses which have paid tariffs.
“The administration’s only responsible course of action now is to establish a fast, efficient and automatic refund process that returns tariff money to the businesses that paid it,” says the organisation’s director Dan Anthony.
Donald Trump has not yet commented on the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Read more about how Trump’s tariffs have affected the guitar industry below:
Report reveals how Fender is tackling tariffs and a “weaker macroeconomic environment”
Why boutique pedal makers fear tariffs will destroy the entire US pedal industry
Are your favourite guitar strings about to get more expensive? D’Addario expects to incur more than $2 million in tariffs this year as a result of US trade policy
How Trump’s tariffs are stretching US amp and pedal companies to breaking point
Höfner blames effects of US tariffs for bankruptcy
The post Trump tariffs rejected by US Supreme Court – what could this mean for the guitar industry? appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
