The Latest: Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over Trump’s tariffs
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday over President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, putting a tool at the center of his economic and foreign policy agendas squarely before the high court.
The case involves the tariffs first announced in April on almost all U.S. trading partners and the ones from February on imports from Canada, China and Mexico. Trump justified these by declaring separate national emergencies under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Earlier this year, however, two lower courts and a federal appeals court ruled that the emergency law he invoked doesn’t give him unlimited power to set tariffs. The Constitution says tariff power belongs to Congress.
Now, arguments on whether the president’s tariffs overstep federal law arrive before a conservative-led Supreme Court, which has thus far been reluctant to check to Trump’s wide-ranging use of executive powers.
Here’s the latest:
Trump’s tariffs make money for the Treasury
Tariff revenue came to $195 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up 153% from $77 billion in fiscal 2024. The import taxes he justified under an economic emergency law — the ones being challenged in the Supreme Court — brought in $89 billion.
Still, total tariffs accounted for less than 4% of federal revenue of $5.2 trillion in fiscal 2025.
Tariffs in foreign policy
For Trump, tariffs are not just a key part of his economic agenda, they’re also a cornerstone of his foreign policy.
He has wielded the import taxes as a threat to secure ceasefires, as political pressure during the prosecution of a Trump ally, and as punishment for a television ad.
In fact, the Justice Department has pointed to their prominence in foreign policy as one reason why the Supreme Court should not strike them down, since it’s an area where courts have long given deference to the executive branch.
The challengers, on the other hand, say that tariffs amount to a domestic tax because they’re paid by American companies that import goods, and taxation belongs to Congress.
US trade deficits are nothing new
Trump justified his sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners by declaring that the country’s trade deficit amounted to a national emergency.
But the U.S. has been importing more than it exports for five decades. It hasn’t run a trade surplus since 1975.
There is beefed-up security around the court
Streets around the building are closed, as has recently been the case on days the court is in session. With Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and members of Congress expected for the arguments, security is even tighter than usual.
What happens if the Supreme Court rules against Trump?
The president has warned the United States will be rendered “defenseless” if he loses. But he’d actually still have plenty of options to keep taxing imports aggressively.
He can use other laws he deployed in his first term and can reach for more, including one aimed specifically at addressing trade imbalances and a previously unused Depression-era statute that allows for up to 50% tariffs against countries that treat American businesses unfairly.
He just won’t have nearly boundless authority to impose any tariff he wants anytime he wants to.
Livestream should begin a few minutes after 10 a.m. Eastern time
A buzzer and the court marshal’s cry, “All rise,” will signal the start of the session, the justices emerging from behind red curtains to take their seats at the court’s curved mahogany bench.
The livestream won’t kick in for several minutes, until after the ceremonial swearing-in of lawyers to the Supreme Court bar.