Supreme Court to review case on Trump’s tariffs

(NewsNation) — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday on whether President Donald Trump overstepped federal law when he imposed sweeping import tariffs on numerous U.S. trading partners.   

Since taking office in January, Trump has imposed tariffs on dozens of countries, including Canada, Mexico, Brazil and China. Lower courts have ruled the tariffs are an illegal use of an emergency powers law. If the Supreme Court agrees, it would be a significant blow to the president’s economic agenda.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who is representing the Trump administration, argued the tariffs are regulatory.

“We don’t contend that what’s being exercised here is the power to tax, it’s the power to regulate foreign commerce,” Sauer said. “These are regulatory tariffs, they are not revenue raising tariffs. The fact that they raise revenue is only incidental.”

Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Sonia Sotomayor challenged Sauer on the word “regulate” and the power it enables.

The White House has said it is “100% confident” in the arguments of the president’s legal team and that the “importance of this case cannot be overstated.”

“He’s been able to bring in trillions of dollars of investments into our country,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “And the president strongly believes that economic security is a matter of national security, and tariffs have a lot to do with that.”

Trump will not be at the Supreme Court for Wednesday’s arguments, despite initially saying he wanted to attend. Instead, the White House said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would be present.

Trump is scheduled to address top business and sports leaders Wednesday at a two-day summit in Miami, where he’s expected to discuss the economy.