Posted on 11/04/2025 10:08:54 AM PST by lasereye
I wrote here and here about the federal lawsuit that challenges President Trump’s authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose most of his tariffs, including his worldwide “reciprocal” tariffs. The case, V.O.S. Selections, Inc. et al. v. Trump, originated in the Court of International Trade, which held 3-0 that the challenged tariffs were not authorized by Congress. That decision was upheld on a 7-4 vote by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The case is now in the Supreme Court, where it will be argued tomorrow. The New York Post covers the Supreme Court proceeding, with assessments from “experts.”
The courts that have ruled against the Trump administration are not composed of partisan, Democratic hacks. These are top-notch judges of both parties who have written thoughtful opinions. I have not done a deep analysis of the legal issues, but reading the decisions, it seemed to me that the judges in the majority, those who have found Trump’s tariffs to be unauthorized, have had the better of the argument. There is no question about the fact that Article I of the Constitution gives control over tariff to Congress. The question is whether the various statutes that have been enacted are broad enough to support the current tariff regime.
Most observers think the case, in the Supreme Court, is too close to call. So far in his second term, Trump has done well in the Court. But those have generally been cases where partisan Democratic judges have issued extraordinary orders, that have been heard by the Supreme Court in a preliminary phase. Basically, the Court has held, a number of times, that the federal courts are not going to take over the running of the Executive Branch while various cases wend their way through the judicial process.
This case is different. We will see here a final ruling on the merits.
One important question is, if the tariffs are held to exceed presidential authority, does the government have to refund the $90 billion it has collected in customs duties? Or is there a way for the Court to make its ruling prospective?
Regardless of how the Court rules, Trump has gotten a lot of benefit from the tariffs he has implemented. They have been the basis for negotiating trade agreements with a number of important countries. If the Court now holds that the tariffs were not authorized by statute, it won’t affect the validity of the trade agreements. It will mean that Trump bluffed, successfully. I think uncertainty over the fate of the tariffs in the Supreme Court has motivated President Trump to conclude as many trade agreements as he can; likely he will try to do some more between tomorrow and when the Court’s decision is announced, likely in June.
In my opinion, the best case scenario might be for the Court to hold, but only prospectively, that the tariffs in question were not authorized. We would be left with a number of favorable trade agreements in place, but without the uncertainty and market volatility that result from the fact that tariffs might be imposed at any time by executive fiat.
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Many are harming the Consumers...
Congress continues to be a bunch a totally lazy buck passers of ill repute.
The Supreme Court needs to lock them up as Frauds.
I'm rooting for POTUS for the win.
Trump’s best move may be to share intel privately with the Justices on how the tariffs helped with National Security issues.
Everything that puts the power to the Senate in todays climate is a bad thing.
I understand your point, but I hope otherwise. We won’t know for sure until this court ruling comes out, because no investor wants to commit millions of dollars on reshoring and plant expansions only to find that tariffs are invalid and everything is back to the way it was.
I have a dog in this fight. China has created innovative models for printed circuit boards and PCB Assembly with huge automated factories in China for which there is no competitive alternative anywhere else in the world. Yet, at least - many countries with favorable tariffs are watching and waiting and it would be great to have competitive sources in the US, Mexico, and elsewhere. But the high China tariffs and loss of de minimus have brought a lot of innovation at small US businesses to a screeching halt. At least some selective carve-outs and perhaps incentives would help keep what China is good at while not just subsidizing cheap crap from Temu as the present broad-brush treatment has done.
Ideally much manufacturing will return to the US, especially in industries like this which have low direct labor content. But that will require firm, legally tested, trade policy that investors can count on.
If it ends up Congress has exclusive authority to safeguard the nation’s Capital Stock, we are doomed.
And there is no hope.
I think you are a dangerous globalist piece of manure.
Many globalists are harming American workers. All globalist need to leave the USA.
This is ball game. Is this an actual nation or just a globalist play ground? We will see.
You can’t have 435 trade negotiators. Also this is not the 1890s, when our main trade competitors were France and Britain.
Also Reagan did more than tariffs-he did quotas on Japanese Motorcycles and cars, also steel. That means limiting the amount brought in, not adding tariffs to their price.
The twin pillars of globalism are duty free trade and open borders. Globalists are evil and the enemy. Tariffs are the primary tool to fight Globalists and globalism economically.The other pillar of globalism is open borders and mass migration.
The free trade globalists are not conservative, not patriots and not IMO human.
The article claims that “The courts that have ruled against the Trump administration [in the tariff powers case] are not composed of partisan, Democratic hacks.”
Not hacks, maybe, but probably quite partisan. The panel makeup at the Federal Circuit was 8 Democratic party appointees to 3 Republican. A Trump win there was hardly to be expected.
Yet the President’s side of the case attracted 2 Bush II Republicans and 2 Obama Democrats in dissent, vs. 6 Democrats and 1 Bush I Republican in the majority opinion.
Tariffs are the preferred tool of lazy stupid governments to cover up their crony enabling laws and crippling commerce policies.
China builds a coal power plant a week.
They love manufacturing and have not sought to kill it.
They enable resource acquisition they want mining
They have educated literate hard working people.
People must work in China.
They don’t have the alpha bet agencies or unions like we do.
OSHA
FTC
DOEnergy
FCC
EPA
DOL and unions
and that’s just a few.
Trump is making things better but he should focus on removing barriers to manufacturing instead of warring against countries that do not enfeeble themselves.
So you would rather Congress pass 140 different tariff bills? Are you insane?
That is why they passed a law in 1974 giving tge President that authority. It’s more akin to diplomacy.
Stupid. All of those regs have almost no effect on the price of the final product at retail. While it would help, most corporations like the regs to keep out the small competition from starting up.
You are whistling in the wind. If the tariffs are shot down, no sane country would keep the current agreements.
Congress will NEVER, EVER survive long enough to impose a tariff on another country or product. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too many hands out from both sides to kill any legislation.
The best outcome from this would be for the Trump Administration to argue successfully that the previous legislation passed by Congress WAS there authorization for Tariffs. They simply left it to the Executive branch to implement them on an As-Needed basis dependent upon Foreign Policy and National Security.
I think it’s 535, but you are right.
We apparently need a Constitutional Amendment to give Tariff powers to the Executive [NOT the Deep State].
Congress have made themselves incapable of governance.
Globalists are really Communists in drag...
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