Trump Claims Court Ruling Expands Trade Powers

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump said the Supreme Court of the United States had “accidentally and unwittingly” granted him broader authority over tariffs and trade measures following what he described as a “ridiculous” and “internationally divisive” ruling.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed the court’s decision provided him “far more powers and strength” than he previously held, particularly in relation to the use of licenses and trade measures targeting foreign countries.

“For one thing, I can use Licenses to do absolutely ‘terrible’ things to foreign countries, especially those countries that have been RIPPING US OFF for many decades,” Trump wrote, while arguing that the ruling does not prevent the United States from charging license fees.

“ALL LICENSES CHARGE FEES, why can’t the United States do so?” he added.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts stated that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to levy tariffs, stressing that the US Constitution “very clearly” grants Congress the sole power to lay and collect taxes, including duties on imports.

The court underscored that any exercise of such extraordinary executive authority requires “clear congressional authorization,” which it found lacking in this case.

Roberts was joined by the court’s three liberal justices as well as conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

Trump argued that if the IEEPA still permits him to “license” imports, such licenses should logically carry fees.

By framing tariffs as “license fees,” he appeared to signal a potential workaround to the court ruling barring him from unilaterally imposing tariffs.

The US president further asserted that the court had approved “all other Tariffs, of which there are many,” saying they could now be deployed “in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used.”

Trump criticized the court as “incompetent,” while excluding what he referred to as the “Great Three” justices, those who dissented, from his rebuke. He claimed the ruling, though flawed in his view, effectively strengthened his executive hand in trade matters.

Trump also suggested the court could next rule on birthright citizenship, referencing the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.

He argued that the amendment was written to address the status of emancipated people following the American Civil War and warned that a future ruling could benefit China and other nations.

“The next thing you know they will rule in favor of China and others,” Trump wrote.