U.S. President Donald Trump decided not to participate in Wednesday’s Supreme Court oral arguments regarding his tariff policies, stating, “It’s not about me.” The notable attendee at the proceedings was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, until comedian John Mulaney unexpectedly appeared. Mulaney, who previously discussed Supreme Court arguments on a podcast with lawyer Neal Katyal, was present as Katyal presented arguments for small businesses suing the Trump administration.
Katyal emphasized to the court that tariffs act as taxes, extracting money from Americans and transferring it to the U.S. Treasury, a power constitutionally granted to Congress alone. Trump’s Solicitor General John Sauer argued that the tariffs imposed by the president were not taxes, but this viewpoint faced skepticism from the justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch.
The case revolves around Trump’s unprecedented use of the 1977 International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs, a move challenged in lower courts and now before the Supreme Court. The conservative-leaning justices expressed doubts about the administration’s arguments during the oral hearing, with speculations suggesting a potential rejection of the tariffs.
The court’s decision, expected in the coming weeks or months, could require the Treasury to reimburse the $90 billion collected through the tariffs if deemed illegal. However, any ruling would not impact the tariffs affecting the Canadian economy, particularly those imposed in response to fentanyl trafficking. The Canada-specific tariffs, including those raised to 35% this summer, target specific non-compliant goods under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, amounting to nearly $2 billion in tariff collections from Canada this year.
