Supreme Court to Hear Trump Tariffs Case of 'Staggering' Importance

• The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday over the legality of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs program in a blockbuster case with extraordinary significance for American consumers and businesses, the nation’s financial health, global diplomacy, and future presidential power.
• If the tariffs are invalidated, the U.S. government could owe tens of billions of dollars of refunds to businesses that have paid them. Such an outcome could also eliminate a primary bargaining chip that Trump has used in negotiations with other countries.
• On the other hand, a decision upholding the tariffs would cement an expansive new exercise of presidential power and preserve a cornerstone of Trump’s agenda. With that being said, economists estimate that this could boost some U.S. manufacturing in the long run but cost American families an average of more than $1700 this year alone in higher prices.
• The Constitution gives Congress the exclusive authority to levy taxes on citizens and duties on imports, with a few limited exceptions adopted over the years to give the president some discretion during times of national crisis. With that being said, the key question in the Trump case is whether the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act gives a president unfettered ability to set tariffs for any country, at any level, for as long as needed, whenever an emergency is declared at the president’s sole discretion.
• Trump, the first president to invoke the law to impose tariffs, argues its broad text gives him sweeping power as an extension of his responsibility for foreign affairs and national security. The law, known as IEEPA, specifies that the president can "regulate importation or exportation" of goods in response to an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the nation’s security "if the president declares a national emergency."
• A coalition of small business owners and Democrat-led states sued Trump over the tariffs arguing both that the word "regulate" in the law does not cover tariffs or taxes, which are not explicitly mentioned, and that the "emergencies" Trump declared are neither unusual nor extraordinary as required by the law.

(Source: ABC News)