Overview
- The Supreme Court is considering whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act allows the president to impose tariffs, in a case brought by Learning Resources.
- President Trump said there are alternative ways to levy import taxes if the justices reject the current approach rooted in a national emergency declaration.
- During oral argument, justices probed whether allowing embargoes but not duties creates an “odd donut hole,” a question attributed to Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
- Government attorney Gutman argued the absence of tariff authority is not a donut hole and reflects that tariffs are a distinct tool from embargoes.
- Commentators Peter E. Harrell, Jennifer Hillman, and Philip Zelikow argue text and history confine IEEPA to blocking or licensing trade and note Congress authorized tariff increases on Russia in 2022.