Raj Bhala, University Distinguished Professor, The University of Kansas (KU) School of Law
As you probably heard, the news about U.S. tariff policy has been ceaseless since the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Friday, 20 February in Learning Resources v. Trump.
The Supreme Court ruled against the use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify Reciprocity Tariffs, thus invalidating those Tariffs. Immediately thereafter, the U.S. announced a new global duty of 10 percent under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.
The next day (Saturday, 21 February), that levy was upped to 15 percent.
I have dubbed the predicted new duty, and anticipated future ones, as “Reincarnation Tariffs.” In other words, the U.S. will continue to impose stiff double-digit tariffs, but under a different statutory form or forms (such as Section 122). It will do so in pursuit of what I have dubbed “Xenophobic Autarky.”
It has been a privilege to provide several interviews (including six on Friday for media as diverse as in India, China, Japan, and Kansas), and I provide links here to one that aired live on TRT in Istanbul, and to one story in Al Jazeera.
(1) Gulay Kaplan (Interview Producer), U.S. Supreme Court Says Trump Exceeded His Authority, TRT World Now, Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) (20 February 2026) (live TV interview),
(2) Andy Hirschfeld, Tariff Refunds Could Take Years Amid U.S. Supreme Court Ruling, Experts Warn, Al Jazeera, 20 February 2026,
I would like to underscore the importance of respectful discourse about our U.S. Supreme Court justices. Whatever we may think of the merits of an opinion, or the judicial philosophy of an adjudicator, it is a hallmark of the rule of law that the judiciary remain independent. I have lived through profound disagreements in rulings involving Watergate in 1974 and the 2000 Presidential Election. Those who lost the Presidency — a bigger sufferance than tariffs — as a result of those decisions accepted the adverse rulings with frustration yet grace. Let me and all of us continue to have the strength to do our best to set a good example for our kids, and our law students to whom we are handing on our legal system.
Forthcoming in the Texas International Law Journal (TILJ) is a trilogy of law review articles chronicling the entire previous year of U.S. tariff policy. I will keep you posted.
Rakesh “Raj” Kumar Bhala (born Toronto 1962 of Indian and Celtic heritage) is author, lawyer and professor, prominent in the fields of International trade law, Islamic Law (Sharia), and law and literature. He is a professor at the University of Kansas School of Law where he is the first University Distinguished Professor (UDP) at Kansas Law. His inaugural UDP lecture, delivered in September 2025, was entitled ‘Deceitful Destruction of International Trade Law: America First and Xenophobic Autarky’. Previously, Bhala was the inaugural Leo S. Brenneisen Distinguished Professor of Law, and served as the university’s Associate Dean for International and Comparative Law (2011–2017). He is the author of leading textbooks in international trade law, among others, and of a periodic column on international law, titled “On Point”.
