Supreme Court Opens Arguments on Trump’s Emergency Tariffs Under IEEPA

Overview

• Oral arguments began Wednesday in challenges to the administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose broad import duties without new legislation.
• Two lower federal courts ruled that many of the tariffs exceeded the statute’s emergency powers, sending the dispute to the justices.
• President Trump is skipping the session for a trip to Miami, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will attend for the administration.
• Business groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a coalition of states and small firms have filed about 40 petitions challenging the measures, citing economic harm and constitutional concerns.
• The government defends the tariffs as responses to the trade deficit and the fentanyl crisis, and the decision will guide how presidents can invoke emergency powers in trade policy.