Supreme Court Appears Skeptical of Trump’s Global Tariffs

Greta Peisch, former USTR general counsel, said that while Supreme Court justices seem skeptical of Trump's tariff authority, she believes that the administration can use other authority to recreate the impact.

The US Supreme Court appeared skeptical of President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, as key justices suggested he had overstepped his authority with his signature economic policy.

In an argument session that lasted more than 2 1/2 hours Wednesday, three members of the court’s conservative majority questioned Trump’s use of an emergency-powers law to collect tens of billions of dollars in tariffs a month.

Chief Justice John Roberts said the tariffs were an “imposition of taxes on Americans and that has always been the core power of Congress.” Justice Neil Gorsuch also signaled he was a probable vote against the president, and fellow Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett asked probing questions of both sides.

A decision against Trump could force more than $100 billion in refunds, remove a major burden on the US importers that are paying the tariffs, and blunt an all-purpose cudgel the president has wielded against trading partners. More broadly, it would be by far the Supreme Court’s most significant pushback against Trump’s assertions of powers that go well beyond those claimed by his White House predecessors.

The court’s three liberal justices — Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson — also expressed doubt about the legality of the tariffs. A ruling could come as quickly as the end of the year, given the ultra-expedited schedule the Supreme Court has set so far.

The atmosphere Wednesday was unusually relaxed for a court that is often sharply divided, with laughter punctuating the arguments several times. At one point, Kagan playfully needled Roberts after he seemed to confuse her and Sotomayor, who had just finished asking a round of questions.

“No, she’s Justice Sotomayor. She just finished,” Kagan quipped.

The case involves Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs, which impose taxes of 10-50% on most US imports depending on the originating country. Trump says those duties are warranted to address the longstanding national trade deficit. The high court clash also covers separate tariffs Trump said he imposed on Canada, Mexico and China to address fentanyl trafficking.

Authority Questioned

Trump says his tariffs are authorized under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that gives the president a panoply of tools to address national security, foreign policy and economic emergencies. IEEPA, as the law is known, doesn’t mention tariffs as one of those powers, though a key provision says the president can “regulate” the “importation” of property to deal with a crisis.

Gorsuch indicated alarm at the reach of the Trump administration’s contention that Congress had delegated its constitutional authority over tariffs to the president.

Under the government’s logic, “what would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce – for that matter, declare war – to the president?” Gorsuch asked US Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the government’s top Supreme Court lawyer.

Gorsuch later asked whether a president could impose a 50% tariff on gas-fueled cars and auto parts to tackle climate change. Sauer responded that the president could.

Barrett questioned whether the statute’s words were enough to let the president put in place tariffs.

“Can you point to any other place in the code or any other time in history where that phrase together ‘regulate importation’ has been used to confer tariff-imposing authority?” Barrett asked Sauer.

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