A gesture from US President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting held at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 26, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
On Wednesday night, President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to quickly accept and rule an appeal attempting to overturn a lower court’s decision that found most of his tariffs to be illegal.
The request comes five days after a 7-4 decision stated that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit exceeded his authority when he implemented sudden taxes on virtually every country.
The decision cast doubt on the central pillar of Trump’s trade agenda.
Trump has asked the Supreme Court to hear the debate on his appeal in early November and soon afterwards to issue a final decision on the legality of tariffs in the dispute.
Usually, the Supreme Court takes time to issue such a decision early in the following summer.
In a declaration attached to Trump’s request, Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said the appeals court “significantly undermines the president’s ability to implement real-world diplomacy and his ability to protect the US national security and economy.”
The Trump filing also states, “Delaying the ruling until June 2026 could result in a scenario where tariffs of between $750 billion and $1 trillion have already been collected and that could lead to a scenario where they could be rewind.”
Trump has used the International Emergency Economic Force Act, or Ieepa, to impose sudden collections on trading partners and declare a federal deficit with other countries into a national emergency.
However, the appeals court said, not the presidential authorities, “tariffs are a major power in Congress.”
“The Congressional powers to impose taxes such as tariffs are granted only to the legislative sector by the Constitution,” the court said.
The appeals court may suspend the ruling until October 14th, giving Trump time to ask the Supreme Court to hear his appeal, and the High Court could issue an indefinite stay of the decision until the appeal is resolved.
Jeffrey Schwab, senior advisor to the Centre for Free Justice, who represents the plaintiffs who have successfully blocked the tariffs, said in a statement:
“We are confident that our legal argument over so-called “liberation date” tariffs will ultimately win,” Schwab said.
“These illegal tariffs are causing serious harm to small businesses and putting their survival at risk. We hope that our clients will resolve this case quickly.”
