WASHINGTON — Today, Ed Gresser, Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets at the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision deeming President Trump’s IEEPA tariffs unconstitutional:
“A very conservative Supreme Court has done Mr. Trump a favor today, by giving him a chance to quietly liquidate about half of his tariff program. But it has only done part of the job, and Congress now needs to finish it.
“The public’s experience with Mr. Trump’s tariffs hasn’t been a happy one. In January, the administration promised lower prices and industrial growth. Since then, it has used tariffs to deliver higher costs of living to families, factory job loss and lost farm income to industry, and harm to America’s national security and international reputation. It is not a surprise to find such a program deeply unpopular, and the Trump administration should be grateful to the Court for partially scrapping it.
“Today’s decision, though, applies only to tariffs imposed through decrees using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The case did not cover the equally bad-faith ‘national security’ Executive Orders and Proclamations imposing tariffs of 10%, 25%, and 50% on furniture, whipped cream, lumber, gym equipment, metals, and thousands of other products through ‘Section 232’ of U.S. trade law. Barring a future legal challenge, these will remain in place, and so will a problem larger than price increases.
“Like the IEEPA tariffs, the ‘Section 232’ tariffs have no Congressional authorization. So beyond their real-world harm to families and businesses, they usurp Congress’s clear Constitutional authority over the rates of ‘taxes, duties, imposts, and excises,’ and substitute rule by personal decree for rule of law. As such, they represent the same breach of the separation of powers, and the same threat to the Constitution. Congress, in particular Speaker Mike Johnson and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, must now complete the Court’s unfinished work through legislation to terminate the remaining tariff decrees and restore Constitutionally appropriate development of future policy.”
Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us @PPI.
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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org
