President Trump furious with Supreme Court over tariff ruling

“That’s right, the Supreme Court of the United States cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars — all they needed was a ruling — and they cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars and they couldn’t care less,” Trump fumed. “They didn’t really care about it.”

“And they disgust me,” Trump said, referring to Gorsuch and Barrett.

Trump added: “They’re disgusting because they’re bad for our country.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, another Trump appointee to the high court, joined fellow conservatives Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas in dissenting.

The majority in the case known as Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump said on February 20 that the president does not have the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs on imports from most countries under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as the president had argued.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority decision: “Based on two words separated by the other 16 words in IEEPA section 1702(a)(1)(B), ‘regulation’ and ‘importation,’ the President asserts independent authority to impose tariffs on imports of any product from any country, at any time and for any period of time.”

“Those words don’t carry much weight,” wrote Roberts, a conservative like Gorsuch and Barrett.

Since the ruling, the Trump administration has moved to replace revenue that the U.S. government would have collected had IEEPA tariffs been upheld.

On February 20, President Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act to impose a 10% tariff on imports worldwide, but the tariff will only last for 150 days unless Congress approves an extension.

Earlier this month, U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer launched a trade investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 targeting approximately 80 countries and economies, including China, Japan, India, Mexico, and the European Union.

Section 301 allows the United States to impose tariffs on imports from countries found to engage in unfair trade practices.