US: Supreme Court sceptical about Trump’s tariffs

Washington (USA), 5 November (LaPresse) – Conservative Supreme Court judges appear sceptical of the Administration’s arguments in defence of the unilateral tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on the United States’ trading partners. The case debated this morning represents a crucial test for the expansion of executive power imposed by Trump in his second term and risks undermining a central tool of his political programme. A decision on the case could take weeks or months, which risks adding further uncertainty to the current economic picture. The Republican administration is seeking to defend the tariffs, central to the White House’s economic agenda, after lower courts ruled that the emergency law invoked by Trump does not give him virtually unlimited power to set and change import tariffs. The Constitution states that Congress has the power to impose tariffs. But the administration argues that in emergency situations, the president can regulate imports, including customs tariffs. Judge Amy Coney Barrett grilled the government’s representatives on this point. ‘Has there ever been another case where a law used that language to confer such power?’ she asked. Justice Neil Gorsuch also asked whether Trump’s position would confer congressional powers on the president. Trump has called the case one of the most important in the country’s history and said that a ruling against him would be catastrophic for the economy. Opponents argue that the 1977 emergency powers law used by Trump does not even mention tariffs, and that no president has ever used it to impose them. A group of small businesses says the uncertainty is pushing them to the brink of bankruptcy. The case focuses on two sets of tariffs. The first was imposed in February on imports from Canada, China and Mexico after Trump declared a national emergency over drug trafficking. The second concerns the hefty “reciprocal” tariffs imposed on most countries, announced by Trump in April. Several lawsuits have been filed over the tariffs, and the Court will examine those brought by a dozen Democratic-majority states and small businesses specialising in various sectors, from plumbing supplies to women’s cycling clothing.