Tariff Uncertainty Reigns Amid Supreme Court Skepticism

Bloomberg

Watch Tariff Uncertainty Reigns Amid Supreme Court Skepticism - Bloomberg on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00The U.S. Supreme Court is signaling skepticism of President Trump's global tariffs,

00:05with key justices suggesting he had overstepped his authority.

00:09The vehicle is imposition of taxes on Americans, and that has always been the core power of Congress.

00:17So to have the president's foreign affairs power trump that basic power for Congress

00:24seems to me to kind of at least neutralize between the two powers, the executive power and the legislative power.

00:36Bloomberg Managing Editor Jill Deas joins us now from Hong Kong.

00:40Jill, so just walk us through what actually went down with the Supreme Court yesterday

00:46and what they're saying about the legality of these tariffs.

00:49I think, you know, first of all, any legal scholar would probably caution you that obviously this isn't a decision.

00:57You know, sometimes justices do ask very specific questions in an attempt to kind of get to the heart of the arguments here.

01:03But what we did hear from the Supreme Court justices was essentially that, you know,

01:09kind of indicating that maybe they're bringing, they're injecting some skepticism into the legality of these specific tariffs.

01:16Obviously, you just heard those remarks from Chief Justice John Roberts there.

01:21We heard some fairly maybe predictably probing questions coming from the more liberal justices in the court.

01:27But I think, you know, more what traitors are likely paying attention to is the fact that we also got some pretty prickly questions

01:34from Amy Coney Barrett, one of the more conservative justices, as well as Justice Neil Gorsuch.

01:39So, you know, all of that is telling us that, you know, there's at least that challenge coming from within the Supreme Court

01:45to try to push, you know, the Trump administration here to sort of justify its tariffs, defend its tariffs,

01:52as it tries to, you know, work this case through the courts.

01:55It may still be, you know, maybe before the end of the year we will get a ruling in this particular case,

02:00maybe a bit longer.

02:01But it does indicate that there's some questions here about whether or not these specific tariffs

02:06are actually going to be upheld in a court of law.

02:11And, Jill, you know, that is going to be the big question.

02:14But it's not applicable to, I guess, all tariffs.

02:18Are there any other tools that the Trump administration can try to use to ensure that at least some of the tariffs stay in place?

02:26Yes, that's right, Jumana.

02:27So this is a case that's specifically referencing a lot of those reciprocal tariffs.

02:32There was Liberation Day tariffs that Trump was implementing country by country.

02:37What we're seeing in terms of some other tariffs, such as the ones that were going through Section 232,

02:42which you're seeing on your screen right now, those ideas of, you know, those more industry-specific tariffs,

02:48many of which we've already seen, actually.

02:49I mean, if you're looking at things on auto parts, aluminum, that kind of stuff that the Trump administration

02:53has already implemented this year, those are other ways that he could pursue some of his tariff regime,

02:59even if some of those reciprocal tariffs were to be struck down.

03:02Of course, when you're looking at some of these options that he has for going through other regulatory requirements

03:07to try to get tariffs in place, were these tariffs to be struck down,

03:11it's obviously worth mentioning that a lot of that does come at a bit of a price here.

03:15There's a lot more regulatory hurdles that he would have to jump through, various probes and investigations,

03:20and may actually have to get, you know, support from other branches of government

03:23in order to implement those tariffs.

03:24So it's not as, you know, sort of immediately effective as what he's implemented through executive order and such.

03:30So, you know, maybe he does ultimately get to a place where, you know,

03:34he would actually be able to implement a lot of the tariffs that he wants to,

03:37but it would be, you know, a much trickier sort of regulatory hurdle to overcome.

03:42So that is one avenue, or rather multiple avenues that the president ultimately has.

03:47Were these tariffs to be struck down?

03:48But I guess, first of all, we'll have to see whether or not that actually happens in front of the Supreme Court,

03:52and then where the Trump administration goes from there.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended