Supreme Court revoking tariffs would be 'devastating', says Trump

Trump warned that the "entire world would be in a depression" had he not been able to implement the levies on goods from trading partners.

By Lauren Dezenski

 

President Donald Trump said it would be “devastating for our country” if the Supreme Court struck down his administration’s sweeping global tariffs after key justices questioned whether he overstepped his authority during oral arguments Wednesday.

 

Trump said in an interview with Fox News that he had been told the case “went well” but warned that the “entire world would be in a depression” had he not been able to implement the levies on goods from trading partners. 

 

“I think it’s one of the most important, maybe the most, but one of the most important cases in the history of our country,” Trump said. 

 

The president went on to argue that he was able to force China to remove planned curbs on rare earths because of the threat of increasing tariffs on the country. 

 

“That wasn’t a threat against us, that was a threat against the entire world,” Trump said. “I did this for the world.”

 

In a nearly three-hour hearing Wednesday, justices from across the ideological spectrum questioned Trump’s use of an emergency-powers law to collect tens of billions of dollars in tariffs a month.

 

A decision against Trump could force more than $100 billion in refunds, remove a major burden on the US importers that are paying the tariffs, and blunt an all-purpose cudgel the president has wielded against trading partners.