Donald Trump said he has a “backup plan” after the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that he exceeded his authority in imposing sweeping global tariffs under emergency powers, dealing a setback to his trade agenda.
After the Supreme Court of the United States struck down Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, the US President said he has a “backup plan” to pursue the punitive duties.
Speaking at a White House breakfast with US governors, Trump described the court’s decision as “a disgrace”.
According to two people familiar with his remarks, as cited by CNN, Trump told attendees that he had already devised an alternative strategy following the ruling.
Administration officials had previously prepared the president for the possibility that the court might strike down the tariffs, reassuring him that other mechanisms were available to advance his trade agenda even if the measures were blocked.
The 6-3 decision centers on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country.
It’s the first major piece of Trump’s broad agenda to come squarely before the nation’s highest court, which he helped shape with the appointments of three conservative jurists in his first term.
The majority found that the Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs. “The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
Striking down the emergency tariffs “would constrain the president’s ambitions to impose across-the-board tariffs on a whim,” said Erica York of tax policy nonprofit the Tax Foundation.
But it still leaves him other statutes to use for tariffs, even if they tend to be more limited in scope – or require specific processes such as investigations – York told AFP.
“The ruling dismantles the legal scaffolding, not the building itself,” said ING analysts Carsten Brzeski and Julian Geib of Trump’s trade restrictions.
US business groups cheered the ruling, with the National Retail Federation saying this “provides much-needed certainty” for American firms and manufacturers.
“We urge the lower court to ensure a seamless process to refund the tariffs to US importers,” the federation said.
The justices did not address the degree to which importers can receive refunds.
But Kavanaugh warned that this process – as acknowledged during oral arguments – could be a “mess.”
EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco told AFP that the loss of IEEPA tariff revenues for the US government could amount to around $140 billion.
The ruling will likely bring the average tariff rate from 16.8 percent to around 9.5 percent, he added ahead of the ruling.
But lower levels will likely be temporary as the government seeks other ways to reimpose some of the sweeping duties, he added.
The Budget Lab at Yale University similarly estimates consumers face an average effective tariff rate of 9.1 percent with Friday’s decision, down from 16.9 percent. But it said this “remains the highest since 1946,” excluding 2025.
With inputs from agencies
End of Article
