Trump tariffs face Supreme Court test in trillion-dollar test of
executive power
[November 05, 2025] By
LINDSAY WHITEHURST
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s power to unilaterally impose
far-reaching tariffs is coming before the Supreme Court on Wednesday in
a pivotal test of executive power with trillion-dollar implications for
the global economy.
The Republican administration is trying to defend the tariffs central to
Trump's economic agenda after lower courts ruled the emergency law he
invoked doesn’t give him near-limitless power to set and change duties
on imports.
The Constitution says Congress has the power to levy tariffs. But the
Trump administration argues that in emergency situations the president
can regulate importation taxes like tariffs. Trump has called the case
one of the most important in the country’s history and said a ruling
against him would be “catastrophic” for the economy.
The challengers argue the 1977 emergency-powers law Trump used doesn’t
even mention tariffs, and no president before has used it to impose
them. A collection of small businesses say the uncertainty is driving
them to the brink of bankruptcy.
The case centers on two sets of tariffs. The first came in February on
imports from Canada, China and Mexico after Trump declared a national
emergency over drug trafficking. The second involves the sweeping
“reciprocal” tariffs on most countries that Trump announced in April.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the tariffs, and the court will
hear suits filed by Democratic-leaning states and small businesses
focused on everything from plumbing supplies to women's cycling apparel.
Lower courts have struck down the bulk of his tariffs as an illegal use
of emergency power, but the nation’s highest court may see it
differently.
Trump helped shape the conservative-majority court, naming three of the
justices in his first term. The justices have so far been reluctant to
check his extraordinary flex of executive power, handing him a series of
wins on its emergency docket.
Still, those have been short-term orders — little of Trump’s
wide-ranging conservative agenda has been fully argued before the
nation’s highest court. That means the outcome could set the tone for
wider legal pushback against his policies.
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The Supreme Court building is seen, June 27, 2024, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
 The justices have been skeptical of
executive power claims before, such as when then-President Joe Biden
tried to forgive $400 billion in student loans under a different law
dealing with national emergencies. The Supreme Court found the law
didn’t clearly give him the power to enact a program with such a big
economic impact, a legal principle known as the major questions
doctrine.
The challengers say Trump’s tariffs should get the same treatment,
since they’ll have a much greater economic effect, raising some $3
trillion over the next decade. The government, on the other hand,
says the tariffs are different because they’re a major part of his
approach to foreign affairs, an area where the courts should not be
second-guessing the president.
The challengers are also trying to channel the conservative
justices’ skepticism about whether the Constitution allows other
parts of the government to use powers reserved for Congress, a
concept known as the nondelegation doctrine. Trump’s interpretation
of the law could mean anyone who can “regulate” can also impose
taxes, they say.
The Justice Department counters that legal principle is for
governmental agencies, not for the president.
If he eventually loses at the high court, Trump could impose tariffs
under other laws, but those have more limitations on the speed and
severity with which he could act. The aftermath of a ruling against
him also could be complicated, if the government must issue refunds
for the tariffs that had collected $195 billion in revenue as of
September.
The Trump administration did win over four appeals court judges who
found the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA,
gives the president authority to regulate importation during
emergencies without explicit limitations. In recent decades,
Congress has ceded some tariff authority to the president, and Trump
has made the most of the power vacuum.
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