Supreme Court Weighs Legality of Trump’s Emergency Tariffs

Overview

• In more than two and a half hours of arguments, conservative and liberal justices questioned the government’s case, and no decision date was set.
• The central dispute turns on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the major-questions doctrine, with Chief Justice John Roberts stressing that taxing authority belongs to Congress.
• Government lawyer John Sauer argued the doctrine does not apply to the president’s foreign-affairs powers and warned that striking the tariffs could invite “relentless commercial retaliation.”
• Trial and appellate courts previously ruled the tariffs unlawful, but they remain in effect pending the Supreme Court’s review.
• The measures cover most imports and could total trillions of dollars over a decade, and a loss for the government could prompt refunds exceeding $100 billion even as officials signal they may pivot to other statutes such as Section 301.