Trump pushes US Supreme Court for expedited resolution to tariff question

Donald Trump’s administration asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to intervene in a legal battle threatening to pull down one of his headstrong foreign policy agendas, tariffs. A federal appeals court struck down most of the levies the President had imposed under a 1977 emergency law, ruling that the president had overstepped his authority.

In filings on Wednesday, the Justice Department called for the justices to hear the case on a highly expedited schedule. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court to accept the case by next week, schedule arguments for early November, and issue a decision “to the maximum extent feasible.”

“The stakes in this case could not be higher,” Sauer wrote, propounding that the tariffs promoted economic prosperity while shielding the US from trade retaliation. According to the administration, striking down the duties could destroy trade negotiations and “thrust America back to the brink of economic catastrophe.”

Trump angered after lower courts rule against tariffs

In a decision made by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last Friday, seven federal judges overruled 4 to declare most of Trump’s tariffs illegal. The court upheld a ruling first issued in May by the US Court of International Trade, which found that Trump had exceeded his executive powers when he imposed reciprocal tariffs on nearly every country.

Although the Federal Circuit put its ruling on hold to allow Supreme Court review, the decision could force the government to return billions in collected duties.

Trump’s camp insists the levies are imperative to the ongoing negotiations with Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and China. The 47th US President has previously used tariffs to secure preliminary deals with the EU, and is still in talks with Beijing.

The litigation came from lawsuits filed by small businesses and a coalition of US states. Plaintiffs asserted that the tariffs are unlawful and harmful to companies that are now struggling to stay afloat as supplies of most of their working materials were “prematurely cut off.”

Jeffery Schwab, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center that represents five of the businesses, said they are all for settling the dispute just as quickly as the current US administration wants. 

US President: America will suffer ‘so greatly’ without tariffs 

Trump has lashed out at the rulings against his policies, calling the courts partisan and warning them of consequences if the tariffs are invalidated.

“If we don’t win that case, our country is going to suffer so greatly,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. He also mentioned that the White House might need to “unwind” preliminary agreements struck this summer with the EU, Japan, South Korea, and other trading partners.

According to Politico, since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has used tariffs to extract concessions, renegotiate trade deals, and exert political pressure on US trading partners. 

The POTUS slapped countries with levies through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, a 1977 law granting presidents authority to address “unusual and extraordinary threats” during national emergencies. Traditionally, the law has been used to impose sanctions on hostile nations or freeze assets.

Per an April Cryptopolitan report, President Trump signed executive orders imposing a baseline 10% tariff on imports from more than 90 countries, along with “reciprocal” tariffs designed to correct trade imbalances. Two months before, he had announced additional tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China “to curb fentanyl trafficking and illicit drug imports into the United States.”

Naysayers argue that the law was never intended to authorize duties and that Trump’s sweeping application of IEEPA distorts its original purpose.

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