Donald Trump's tariffs could soon be toast

NO SITTING PRESIDENT has ever attended an oral argument at the Supreme Court.

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No sitting US president has attended an oral argument at the Supreme Court; a precedent Donald Trump chose not to break.

(AP)

That is one precedent Donald Trump chose not to break after flirting with the idea of turning up for the arguments in Learning Resources v Trump—the case challenging the legality of Mr Trump’s tariff barrage that was heard on November 5th.

On the eve of the hearing Mr Trump declared the case a matter of “LIFE OR DEATH”. He dispatched his commerce and treasury secretaries to watch. Arguing before the justices, John Sauer, the solicitor-general, echoed his boss's conviction that tariffs are saving America from “the brink of an economic and national security catastrophe”. He argued that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), passed in 1977, “plainly embraces” Mr Trump's “trafficking” tariffson China, Canada and Mexico to tackle the fentanyl crisis and “reciprocal” tariffs of up to 50% on most of America’s trading partners.