TMTPOST -- U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday night appealed to the Supreme Court in bid to protect his worldwide tariffs.
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The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) authorizes the tariffs imposed by the president pursuant to the national emergencies declared or continued in his five executive orders this year. And if the IEEPA authorizes the tariffs, another question for the Supreme Court to decide is whether the statute unconstitutionally delegates legislative authority to the president, according to a filling obtained by NBC News on Wednesday.
The Trump administration also submitted a motion to expedite the Supreme Court’s ruling, according to another filing. It showed Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the court to accept a schedule with a decision on the petition for a writ of certiorati by September 10, and upon a grant of certiorari, expedited consideration of the case so that oral arguments can be heard heard as soon as the first week of November.
The fillings are the latest move by the Trump administration to overturn a federal appeals court’s ruling that the president’s use of emergency powers to impose worldwide tariffs is unlawful.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. found Trump overstepped his presidential powers with his global tariffs. The court said in a filling that it agreed that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA)’s grant of presidential authority to “regulate” imports does not authorize the tariffs imposed by his five executive orders.
The Trump administration had argued that a president can unilaterally impose wide-ranging, global tariffs by invoking IEEPA to protect the U.S. from international threats. Enacted in 1977, IEEPA authorizes the president to “regulate” international commerce after declaring a national emergency. But the Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a lower-court ruling against Trump’s tariff.
The ruling shot down most of tariffs that the Trump administration has implemented so far this year, including reciprocal tariffs on all the trading partners and trafficking tariffs hitting Canada, Mexico and China. “We dissent from the majority’s affirmance of the Court of International Trade (CIT)’s summary judgment that the reciprocal and trafficking tariffs are unlawful,” the appeals court in its opinion released on Friday concluded.
While the latest decision of the appeals court stroke a big blow to the core of Trump’s trade policy, the tariffs remain in place as the case continues to be adjudicated in the CIT. The appeals court said its ruling would not come into effect until October 14, effectively giving the Trump administration a chance and time to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
Trump on Tuesday said his administration would appeal to the Supreme Court a day later and seek for an “expedited ruling”. "It's an economic emergency," he said on a CNN radio show. "If we don’t win that decision, you’ll see a reverberation like maybe you’ve never seen before," he added.
“We’re going to be going to the Supreme Court, we think tomorrow, because we need an early decision,” Trump said in the Oval Office, arguing that the “financial fabric of our country” is at stake. “If you take away tariffs, we could end up being a third-world country,” Trump later Tuesday threatened.
However, the senior U.S. government officials are making backup plans. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that he felt confident the Supreme Court will back Trump's use of the IEEPA to impose broad tariffs, but said the administration is working on a Plan B in case it does not.
"I'm confident the Supreme Court will uphold it - will uphold the president's authority to use IEEPA. And there are lots of other authorities that can be used - not as efficient, not as powerful," Bessent said. One of those authorities could be Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, he added.
In a statement released on Wedesday, Jeffrey Schwab, a lawyer for the Liberty Justice Center — which is representing businesses challenging the tariffs — said he was confident the court would rule against Trump. “These unlawful tariffs are inflicting serious harm on small businesses and jeopardizing their survival. We hope for a prompt resolution of this case for our clients,” he added.
