WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he will keep tariffs in place by using other legal authorities after the Supreme Court found he exceeded his power under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
At a White House press conference, Trump repeatedly criticized the six justices who wrote that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. “The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing and I’m ashamed of certain members of the Court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” he said.
Trump singled out Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, calling their opposition to his tariff policies “a disgrace to our nation” and “unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.”
Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh filed dissenting opinions; Justice Samuel Alito and Thomas joined Kavanaugh’s dissent. Trump appointed Barrett, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh during his first term.
Despite the ruling, Trump said he would pursue other statutory paths to keep the tariffs in force. “The good news is that there are methods, practices, statutes and authorities as recognized by the entire Court in this terrible decision, and also as recognized by Congress, that are even stronger than the IEEPA tariffs available to me as president of the United States,” he said.
Trump said he planned to sign an order to “impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122, over and above our normal tariffs already being charged.”
He did not commit to returning the tens of billions of dollars the government collected under IEEPA tariffs, arguing the Court’s opinion did not address that issue and suggesting it would be litigated further. “They take months and months to write an opinion, and they don’t even discuss that point,” he said.
Trump also said he would not seek new legislation from Congress to authorize tariffs. “I don’t have to. I have the right to do tariffs. And I’ve always had the right to do tariffs. It has all been approved by Congress, so there’s no reason to do it,” he said, adding the process will be “a little more complicated” but would allow the administration to collect more tariffs.
Trump is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, an event likely to be attended by many of the Supreme Court justices. He said he “couldn’t care less” whether they attend and suggested they are “barely” invited, though he acknowledged that he does not have authority to exclude guests from either chamber of Congress. Justices may, however, choose not to attend.
This article originally published by States Newsroom is republished under a Creative Commons license.
