AsianFin -- U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to expedite a case against most of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs.
Credit：U.S. Supreme Court
In an order released on Tuesday, the Supreme Court said the Trump administration’s motion to expedite consideration of the case was granted. The case involves the Court of International Trade (CIT)’s ruling that struck down all the Trump’s tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA).
The Supreme Court will also consider a second tariff challenge pressed by two educational-toy makers. Those companies are pressing similar arguments but filed their suit in federal district court in Washington, rather than in the CIT.
The Supreme Court in its order gave both sides until September 19 to file their initial briefs, and two cases will be set for oral argument in the first week of November. The order puts the case on an unusually fast track to resolution. The Supreme Court normally would take as long as early next summer to issue such a decision.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott later Tuesday reiterated his confidence about Trump’s winning the case in the Supreme Court. He said he was confident that the court will uphold Trump’s tariffs. The Treasury chief days ago said he felt confident that Trump would win the tariff case, while warning the government would lose federal revenue amounting to tens of billions of dollars if the Supreme Court upholds an appeals court’s ruling.
If these tariffs implemented since Trump’s second presidential term are shot down by the Supreme Court’s ruling, “We would have to give a refund on about half the tariffs, which would be terrible for the Treasury,” Bessent said during an interview with NBC News on Sunday.
Bessent also suggested more sizable cost for the government if the Supreme Court delays its ruling. “Delaying a ruling until June 2026 could result in a scenario in which $750 billion-$1 trillion in tariffs have already been collected, and unwinding them could cause significant disruption,” he said.
The Trump administration had argued that a president can unilaterally impose wide-ranging, global tariffs by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) to protect the U.S. from international threats. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. on August 29 upheld the Court of International Trade (CIT)’s ruling against Trump’s tariff, finding that Trump overstepped his presidential powers with his global tariffs.
The appeals court said in a filling that it agreed that the IEEPA ’s grant of presidential authority to “regulate” imports does not authorize the tariffs imposed by his five executive orders. The ruling shot down most of tariffs that the Trump administration has implemented so far this year, including reciprocal tariffs on all the trading partners and trafficking tariffs hitting Canada, Mexico and China.
While the latest decision of the appeals court stroke a big blow to the core of Trump’s trade policy, the tariffs remain in place as the case continues to be adjudicated in the CIT. The appeals court said its ruling would not come into effect until October 14, effectively giving the Trump administration a chance and time to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
The Trump administration last week appealed to the Supreme Court to protect his global tariffs. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the administration’s top courtroom lawyer, told the justices that “the power to ‘regulate importation’ encompasses the power to impose tariffs or duties on imports.”
Sauer asked the court to accept a schedule with a decision on the petition for a writ of certiorati by September 10, and upon a grant of certiorari, to expedite consideration of the case so that oral arguments can be heard heard as soon as the first week of November and a final decision on the legality of the disputed tariffs can be issued soon afterward.
