In a packed marble courtroom, the US Supreme Court on Wednesday opened what could be the most consequential trade ruling in a generation, grilling President Donald Trump’s administration over whether a 48-year-old emergency law effectively gave the White House virtually unlimited power over trade.
At stake: US$90 billion already paid by American importers, trade deals with partners across the globe, billions more to come, and the delicate balance of power between Pennsylvania Avenue and Capitol Hill.
The first half of the oral arguments crackled with tension, as justices signalled deep scepticism that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act was ever intended to serve as an all-purpose trade weapon.
The justices appeared to agree that the “major questions doctrine”, which requires Congress to grant clear and explicit authority for sweeping executive actions, could apply in this case. Both conservative and liberal justices pressed Trump’s solicitor general, Jonathan Sauer, on why the administration maintains that tariffs are not taxes, and why it is not Americans who ultimately pay them.
Sauer, argued that the issue concerns not Congress’s “power to tax” but the president’s authority to regulate foreign powers.
“The fact that they raise revenue is only incidental,” he said of the tariffs, while stressing that “major questions doctrine” was a “poor fit” for the case.
