U.S. Supreme Court Could Consider Case Against Trump Tariffs

Two family-owned businesses have requested that the U.S. Supreme Court consider a case that ultimately could strike down President Donald Trump’s most sweeping tariffs. The request, which stems from a lawsuit filed by two educational-toy makers, seeks to put the case on an expedited track with the possibility of a definitive Supreme Court ruling by the end of the year. What, specifically, is at issue in this case? As Connecting the Dots readers may recall, earlier this year, President Trump issued several tariffs citing his powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Those tariffs include:

• The 10 percent baseline tariffs announced on April 2;
• The reciprocal tariffs totaling between 20 percent and 50 percent on approximately 65 trading partners with which the U.S. runs trade deficits (see the latest Connecting the Dots story on these penalties and the 10 percent tariffs at this link); and
• The 25 percent fentanyl IEEPA tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico and the 20 percent fentanyl IEEPA tariff on products from China.

The list of penalties at issue does not include any of the Section 232 tariffs the Trump administration has issued. On May 29 District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras issued a ruling that found the IEEPA “does not authorize the president to impose” tariffs. Judge Contreras, who also called the tariffs “unlawful,” stayed his order for 14 days “so the parties may seek review in the Court of Appeals.”

This case is the one the Supreme Court is deciding whether to consider, but it is not the only one that could affect the IEEPA tariffs. A day before Judge Contreras’s ruling, the U.S. Court of International Trade (USCIT), which hears disputes involving international trade and customs laws, also struck down the tariffs President Donald Trump had issued under the IEEPA. Its ruling was unanimous. The USCIT had given U.S. Customs and Border Patrol 10 days to implement its ruling, but that time was not necessary because because on May 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. stayed the USCIT’s ruling, which meant the Trump administration can once more impose the tariffs. That stay is in effect until July 31.