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The Trump administration formally requested on Wednesday night that the U.S. Supreme Court take up President Donald Trump’s tariffs case and issue an expedited ruling.
The move comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled last week that Trump did not have the authority to impose tariffs. The court paused its decision to allow time for an appeal.
Trump previewed the request a day earlier, saying he would push for the high court to admit the case quickly and deliver a ruling on whether tariffs he imposed on U.S. trading partners were legal. The Appeals Court concluded that Congress, not the president, holds tariff authority.
“We’re going to be going to the Supreme [Court], … we think tomorrow, because we need an early decision,” Trump said Tuesday. “I mean, look [at] the financial fabric of our country. We’re a rich, incredible country right now, and we’re able to, you know, other countries use tariffs on us for years, and we never did.”
Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed the request, asking the justices to decide by Sept. 10 whether they will hear the case and, if so, to schedule oral arguments during the first week of November, according to the New York Times.
The Appeals Court stated that the tariffs will remain in place until Oct. 14 while the Supreme Court considers whether to take the case.
“That decision casts a pall of uncertainty upon ongoing foreign negotiations that the President has been pursuing through tariffs over the past five months, jeopardizing both already negotiated framework deals and ongoing negotiations,” he wrote. “The stakes in this case could not be higher.”
Some of the duties challenged in court did not apply to Trump’s tariff. Levies on foreign steel, aluminum and automobiles remained unaffected, as did the tariffs placed on Chinese goods during Trump’s first term, which President Joe Biden continued.
Although Trump retains authority to apply tariffs under other statutes, those laws carry stricter limits on how quickly and extensively he can use them. Government lawyers have warned that if the disputed tariffs are overturned, Washington could be forced to return a portion of the import duties already collected, which would hit the Treasury with significant financial losses.