President Trump’s tariffs were met with reservations from the Supreme Court as his administration faced incisive questioning Wednesday over its use of emergency powers to justify his sweeping economic agenda.

The court’s conservative majority tussled over whether Trump stretched his emergency authority too far or if it fits within his leeway over foreign policy, as Chief Justice John Roberts and two of Trump’s own appointees appeared concerned by the administration’s arguments.

“The justification is being used for the power to impose tariffs on any product, from any country, for any amount, for any length of time,” Roberts said. “I'm not suggesting it's not there, but it does seem like that's major authority.”

The stakes are high, with one of Trump’s biggest agenda items on the line as well as the potential impacts for economies around the world. The president says he has used tariffs to pressure foreign countries to end global conflicts and has asserted an unfavorable ruling would spell economic disaster.

At the heart of the case is an untested expansion of executive power: Trump’s invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in imposing tariffs on nearly every foreign nation.

The 1977 law empowers the president to “regulate” imports to deal with certain national emergencies. But it has never been used to impose tariffs — and the small businesses and Democratic-led states challenging the president’s move contend it........

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