President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court for a swift ruling to uphold his tariffs, warning the country is on “the brink of economic catastrophe” without them.
In an unusual filing late Wednesday, the administration used stark language as it urged the justices to overturn an appeals court decision that found most of Trump’s tariffs were an unlawful use of emergency powers. The tariffs remain in effect for now.
The case lands before a court that has so far hesitated to rein in Trump’s broad assertions of executive authority. A central question is whether the justices’ expansive view of presidential power extends to tariffs, which the Constitution assigns to Congress. Three members of the conservative majority were nominated by Trump during his first term.
The tariffs — and their uneven rollout — have rattled global markets, strained U.S. relations with allies, and fueled concerns about higher prices and slower growth. But they have also brought in record amounts of revenue for the government.
Trump has used the trade penalties to press the European Union, Japan, and others into new agreements. Tariff revenue reached $159 billion by late August, more than twice the amount collected a year earlier.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to decide within a week whether to take up the case and to schedule arguments for the first week of November — a pace far faster than the court’s norm.
“The President and his Cabinet officials have determined that the tariffs are promoting peace and unprecedented economic prosperity, and that the denial of tariff authority would expose our nation to trade retaliation without effective defenses and thrust America back to the brink of economic catastrophe,” Sauer wrote.
He argued the case involves not only trade, but also the nation’s ability to curb fentanyl trafficking and support efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
