SCOTUS Weighs Trump Tariffs, Exec Power11/05 06:14

   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.

   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.

   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.