Tariffs

Trump Keeps Coming Up With Legally Dubious Tariff Justifications

Trump launched his third round of broad tariffs after his first two attempts ran into legal trouble.

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Donald Trump | Photo, middle: Geopix/Alamy
(Photo, middle: Geopix/Alamy)

When a president starts with a predetermined policy and then goes looking for a statutory pretext to justify it, he is building on shaky ground. President Donald Trump illustrated that point once again in July, when he announced a third round of broad tariffs after his first two attempts ran into legal trouble.

Shortly after taking office in 2025, Trump claimed to have discovered a previously unnoticed delegation of extensive tariff authority in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that does not mention import taxes and had never been used to impose them. That claim was rejected by every court that considered it.

Last February, the Supreme Court ruled that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs at all. But Trump had a backup plan: Hours after that decision, he announced another sweeping set of tariffs, this time relying on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. … [Subscribe to continue reading]

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