Trump rails against Supreme Court over tariff decision

“That’s right, the Supreme Court of the United States cost our country – all it took was one ruling – hundreds of billions of dollars, and they didn’t care at all,” Trump raged. “They couldn’t care less.”

Referring to Gorsuch and Barrett, Trump said, “And they make me sick.”

“They make me sick because they are bad for our country,” Trump added.

Trump’s other Supreme Court nominee, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, dissented, as did two conservative colleagues, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

The majority in theirs Decision in Learning Resources Inc. v. Trumpsaid on Feb. 20 that a president does not have the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to unilaterally impose tariffs on imports from most countries, as Trump had claimed.

“Based on two words separated by 16 additional words in Section 1702(a)(1)(B) of the IEEPA – ‘regulate’ and ‘import’ – the President asserts independent authority to impose tariffs on imports from any country, for any product, in any case, and for any period,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority decision.

“These words cannot withstand such weight,” wrote Roberts, who, like Gorsuch and Barrett, is a conservative.

Since the ruling, the Trump administration has taken steps to replace the revenue the U.S. government would have earned if the IEEPA tariffs had been maintained.

Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act on February 20 to impose global tariffs of 10% on imports, but those tariffs will only last for 150 days unless Congress agrees to an extension.

Earlier this month, the office of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has opened a trade investigation in almost 80 countries and economies Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, including China, Japan, India, Mexico and the European Union.

Section 301 allows the U.S. to impose tariffs on imports from countries found to have engaged in unfair trade practices.