Supreme Court hears Trump tariff case
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters upon arrival at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on October 31, 2025.
Samuel Corum | Getty Images
The Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments Wednesday morning in a case that will determine the fate of a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy: broad and sometimes steep tariffs on most of the world’s nations.
Lower federal courts ruled that Trump lacked the legal authority he stated under the law. International Emergency Economic Powers Act Imposing so-called reciprocal tariffs on imports from many of the United States’ trading partners and fentanyl tariffs on products from Canada, China and Mexico.
Courts have said Congress, not the president, has the authority to enact tariffs this way.
Tariffs start from a baseline of 10 percent in many countries and go up to 50 percent on goods from India and Brazil.
Accordingly, if tariffs are allowed to remain in effect, $3 trillion in extra revenue will be provided to the United States by 2035. Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. That group said last week that the federal government collected $151 billion from tariffs in the second half of fiscal 2025, “an almost 300% increase over the same period” in fiscal 2024.
Rick Woldenberg, CEO of educational toy company Learning Resources, which is involved in a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump, stands outside the U.S. Supreme Court as its justices are set to hear oral arguments on Trump’s bid to maintain broad tariffs after lower courts ruled that Trump overstepped his authority, in Washington DC, U.S., on November 5, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who plans to attend oral arguments on Wednesday, said in a September court filing that the U.S. could have to pay back $750 billion or more if the Supreme Court rules that the tariffs are illegal and waits until next summer to make that decision.
The Supreme Court will not issue a decision in the case on Wednesday. It is unclear when the court will announce its decision.
The case is seen as a major legal test for Trump, who received some positive decisions from the Supreme Court for other policies during his second term in the White House.
Conservatives have a 6-3 majority among the court’s justices.
Trump insists that tariffs are vital to protecting the American economy and citizens and serve as a sharp incentive for companies to manufacture their products in the United States.
“Tomorrow’s United States Supreme Court case literally means LIFE OR DEATH for our country,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.
“With a Victory, we have a tremendous but fair Fiscal and National Security,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.
“Without it, we are almost defenseless against other countries that have taken advantage of us for years. Our stock market is constantly reaching record highs, and our country has never been more respected than it is right now,” he said. “A big part of this is the Economic Security created by Tariffs and the Agreements we negotiate because of them.”
Critics of the tariffs say the financial hit is borne not by foreign manufacturers but by the U.S. importers who pay them, and the additional costs are then largely passed on to American consumers.
Trump has previously said he is considering participating in oral arguments, which would be an apparent first for a sitting president.
He said on Truth Social on Sunday: “I will not be going to court on Wednesday because I do not want to distract from the importance of this Judgment.
“In my view, this will be one of the most important and consequential decisions ever handed down by the United States Supreme Court,” he wrote.
This is developing news. Check back for updates.
