The US Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on whether a wide swath of Donald Trump’s tariffs are lawful, in a landmark case that could uphold — or upend — the president’s economic agenda.
Billions of dollars in customs revenue and a key lever in Trump’s trade wars are at stake, while the conservative-dom- inated court once again grapples with novel tests of presidential authority.
Trump has hyped the case as “one of the most important” in US history and warned of calamity if his tariffs are overturned.
The high court’s nine justices will consider Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every US trade partner, as well as levies targeting Mexico, Canada and China over their alleged roles in illicit drug flows.
Opponents argue that such broad tariffs are not permitted by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the law cited by Trump in issuing the levies.
The court’s decision, which could take months to arrive, does not concern sector-specific tariffs Trump imposed, including on steel, aluminum and automobiles.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has brought the overall average effective tariff rate to its highest since the 1930s.
AFP
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