Don't bet on the court

India should assume that US trade policy is here to stay

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The United States (US) Supreme Court has fast-tracked its hearing in a case challenging President Donald Trump's authority to level sweeping tariffs on America’s trade partners.

In general, the Court hears cases over a lengthy period and announces judgments in the summer. But this one, it appears, might be concluded sooner than that. The most recent series of verbal arguments last week did not appear to be going well for the lawyers defending the executive's right to set tariffs under an authorisation, dating back to 1977, that says that emergency trade measures do not have to be referred to the legislature. Constitutionally, the right to set tariffs — and all taxes — is retained by the United States Congress, but Mr Trump has used the decades-old emergency authorisation to effectively overturn America’s longstanding trade policy.