US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he arrives at Palm Beach International Airport on Oct. 31, 2025 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Samuel Corum | Getty Images
The Supreme Court on Wednesday morning began hearing oral arguments in a case to decide the fate of the cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy: Broad and sometimes high tariffs against most of the world’s nations.
Lower federal courts have ruled that Trump lacked the legal authority he cited under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose the so-called reciprocal tariffs on imports from many U.S. trading partners, and fentanyl tariffs on products from Canada, China and Mexico.
The courts said Congress, not the president, has the power to enact tariffs in that manner.
The tariffs start at a baseline of 10% on many nations, and spike to as high as 50% on goods from India and Brazil.
The tariffs, if allowed to stand, would result in $3 trillion in extra revenue for the United States by 2035, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. That group last week said the federal government collected $151 billion from customs duties in the second half of fiscal year 2025, “a nearly 300% increase over the same period in” fiscal year 2024.
Rick Woldenberg, CEO of educational toy company Learning Resources, which is involved in a case 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 preserve sweeping tariffs after lower courts ruled that he overstepped his authority, in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 5, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who planned to attend Wednesday’s oral arguments, said in a court filing in September that the U.S. might have to refund $750 billion or more if the Supreme Court ruled the tariffs are illegal and waited until next summer to issue that ruling.
The Supreme Court will not issue a decision in the case on Wednesday. It is not clear when the court will release its ruling.
The case is seen as a key legal test for Trump, who has won some favorable rulings from the Supreme Court for other policies during his second term in the White House.
Conservatives hold a 6-3 majority among the court’s justices.
Trump insists the tariffs are crucial to protecting the American economy and citizens, and serve as a sharp prod to companies to make their products in the United States.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump wrote, “Tomorrow’s United States Supreme Court case is, literally, LIFE OR DEATH for our Country.”
“With a Victory, we have tremendous, but fair, Financial and National Security,” Trump wrote in the Truth Social post.
“Without it, we are virtually defenseless against other Countries who have, for years, taken advantage of us. Our Stock Market is consistently hitting 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 Deals that we have negotiated because of them.”
Critics of tariffs say the financial hit is borne not by foreign manufacturers but by U.S. importers who pay them, and then largely pass on the added costs to American consumers.
Trump previously said he was considering attending the oral arguments, which would have been an apparent first for a sitting president.
On Sunday, he said on Truth SociaI, “I will not be going to the Court on Wednesday in that I do not want to distract from the importance of this Decision.
“It will be, in my opinion, one of the most important and consequential Decisions ever made by the United States Supreme Court,” he wrote.
This is developing news. Check back for updates.
