Tariffs

Trump Keeps Pushing Legally Dubious Tariffs

The president's latest round of broad import taxes, like the previous two, treats his statutory authority as an afterthought.

Jacob Sullum | 7.29.2026 12:01 AM

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(Midjourney)

When you start with a predetermined policy and then go looking for a legal pretext to justify it, you are building on shaky ground. President Donald Trump illustrated that point once again last week, when he announced a third round of broad tariffs after his first two attempts were rejected by federal courts.

Shortly after taking office last year, Trump claimed to have discovered a previously unnoticed delegation of tariff authority in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that does not mention import taxes and had never been used to impose them. Under IEEPA, Trump argued, he could tax imports of any goods he decided to target from any country he chose at any rate he deemed appropriate for any length of time he thought was necessary.

Trump's claim was rejected by every court that considered it, including the Supreme Court, which last February ruled that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs at all. But Trump had a backup plan:........

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