US Supreme Court to Decide on Legality of Trump's Tariffs

Lower court had ruled that the President overstepped his authority in use of 1977 law

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WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court agreed on Sept. 9 to decide on the legality of Mr. Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs, setting up a major test of one of the Republican President's boldest assertions of executive power that has been central to his economic and trade agenda.

The justices took up the Justice Department's appeal of a lower court's ruling that Mr. Trump overstepped his authority in imposing most of his tariffs under a federal law meant for emergencies.

The court swiftly acted after the administration last week asked it to review the case, which implicates trillions of dollars in customs duties over the next decade.

The court, which begins its next nine-month term on Oct. 6, placed the case on a fast track, scheduling oral arguments for the first week of November.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled on Aug. 29 that Mr. Trump had overreached in invoking a 1977 law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose the tariffs, undercutting a major priority for the President in his second term. The tariffs, however, remain in effect during the appeal to the Supreme Court.

The appeals court ruling stems from two challenges. One was brought by five small businesses that import goods, including a New York wine and spirits importer and a Pennsylvania-based sport fishing retailer.

The other was filed by 12 US states — Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Vermont — most of them governed by Democrats.