Supreme Court Curbs Presidential Tariff Power

The legal authority in question stems from Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows a president to restrict imports if the Commerce Department finds they threaten national security. This provision was intended to protect domestic industries vital for defense. Historically, presidents used Section 232 authority sparingly. Before the Trump administration, the last time a president acted under Section 232 was in 1986. Between 1962 and 2020, only 31 such investigations were even initiated. Under President Trump, this authority was used to impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum in March 2018. The administration also launched Section 232 investigations into a wide range of other goods, including automobiles, auto parts, and uranium. The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in *Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump* focused on whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) gave the president the power to impose these broad tariffs. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, argued that the Constitution gives Congress the power to tax and that any delegation of that authority to the president must be explicitly clear, which it found IEEPA was not. The ruling does not eliminate all presidential tariff powers, leaving authorities like Section 232 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (addressing unfair trade practices) intact. These avenues require more specific procedural steps and justification than the emergency powers the administration had claimed. In response to the ruling, the White House has already signaled it will use Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. This provision, never before used, allows the president to impose a temporary import surcharge of up to 15% for a maximum of 150 days on countries with which the U.S. has a large trade deficit.