Supreme Court justices, including President Donald Trump’s appointees, expressed skepticism about his use of emergency powers to impose Liberation Day tariffs.
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TheSupremeCourtonWednesdayheardoralargumentsinacasecenteredonPresidentDonaldTrump’suseofanemergencylawtoenacthissweeping“LiberationDay”tariffs,andevenTrump-appointedjusticesappearedskepticaloftheadministration’sarguments.
Severalquestionsfromconservativejustices,particularlyNeilGorsuchandAmyConeyBarrett,suggesteduncertaintyaboutallowingTrumptousetheInternationalEmergencyEconomicPowersAct(IEEPA)toenacthissteep10%tariffsonmostimports.ArulingagainsttheadministrationwoulddeliveramajorblowtoTrump’ssignatureeconomicpolicy.
TheIEEPAlawgivesthepresidentbroadeconomicpowersintheeventofanationalemergencytiedtoforeignthreats,andTrumpdeclaredthetradedeficitsuchanemergencytoimposetariffsviaexecutiveorderearlierthisyear.Butthelawdoesnotmentiontheword“tariffs”or“taxes”—amajorstickingpointinboththisweek’
