New York, Sep 10 The US Supreme Court is fast-tracking President Donald Trump’s appeal against a court ruling that struck his tariffs, saying he had overstepped his constitutional authority.
In an unsigned order, the court said on Tuesday that it will take up the oral arguments in the case in the first week of November.
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington upheld last month a ruling by the Court of International Trade in May that declared illegal the reciprocal tariffs that Trump had imposed in his trade war.
The appeals court had stayed its ruling till October 14, and now the stay will continue as the Supreme Court hears the appeal.
The Trump administration asked for expediting the case because it said if the court waited till June in the normal course and then gave a negative ruling, the government’s finances would be seriously affected as it could be made to refund between $750 billion and $1 trillion in tariffs.
In another ruling on Tuesday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts stayed a federal judge’s ruling ordering the Trump administration to unfreeze $4 billion in foreign aid that Congress had approved.
Trump is using a procedure known as “pocket recission,” by which the government fails to spend the money allocated by Congress in the budget before the financial year ends, sending it unspent back to the treasury.
The tariffs case hinges on the Constitutional provision that gives Congress the sole power to impose tariffs.
Trump invoked the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) to unilaterally impose the so-called reciprocal tariffs, claiming the trade deficits created an economic emergency that empowered him to set the tariffs.
He imposed 25 per cent duties on India’s exports under the reciprocal tariffs, which was negated by the lower court rulings.
In addition, a 25 per cent punitive tariff was imposed for buying oil from Russia, and the punitive 25 per cent tariff for buying Russian oil that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said was to address “threats to the United States” by Moscow.
Trump on Tuesday said on Truth Social that negotiations were continuing with India and he felt “certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion”.
“I look forward to speaking with my very good friend, Prime Minister Modi, in the upcoming weeks”, he added.
If the tariff arrangement is made through a bilateral trade agreement, it may not be affected by the final outcome of the tariffs case.
The Supreme Court is consolidating two separate cases on tariffs and gave the lawyers for the parties that brought the case and the government a September 19 deadline to file written briefs, October 20 for responses, and October 30 for replies to those.
The court also limited oral arguments to one hour when it takes up the case.
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