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President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is considering attending a Supreme Court hearing next month on whether his use of tariffs is legal, calling the dispute one of the most significant cases ever brought before the court.
“I think I’m going to go to the Supreme Court to watch it,” the president told reporters. “I’ve not done that, and I had some pretty big cases. I think it’s one of the most important cases ever brought, because we will be defenseless against the world.”
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Nov. 5 over whether tariffs imposed by Trump fall within his authority under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The law allows presidents to take action in response to national security, foreign policy or economic emergencies.
President Trump argues the act gives him broad power to impose tariffs. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled 7-4 that the law does not go that far.
“The statute bestows significant authority on the president to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax,” the appeals court said, according to Bloomberg.
The ruling upheld an earlier decision from the Court of International Trade.
If the Supreme Court sides against President Trump, the average U.S. tariff rate of 16.3 percent could be cut by at least half, and the government could be required to refund tens of billions of dollars, Bloomberg also reported.
In August, President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs targeting foreign-made trucks, furniture, cabinets and pharmaceutical products, saying the measures are needed to protect U.S. manufacturing and national security.
The highest penalty will apply to pharmaceutical products, which Trump said would face a 100 percent tariff unless companies begin producing them in the United States.
“‘IS BUILDING’ will be defined as, ‘breaking ground’ and/or ‘under construction,’” Trump posted on Truth Social. “There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started.”
The administration also set a 50 percent tariff on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and related products, and a 30 percent tariff on imported furniture.
“The reason for this is the large scale ‘FLOODING’ of these products into the United States by other outside Countries,” Trump wrote in a separate post. “It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for national security and other reasons, our manufacturing process.”