The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Nov. 5 in a case challenging the validity of President Donald Trump’s tariff authority. 

After listening to those arguments, a few things are clear.

The tariff authority belongs to Congress, and in the cases that its members delegate that authority, they are clear about doing so. Trump cites imprecise language, not meant to authorize tariffs, bent to meet his needs.

Congress should have stepped in to clarify that authority, but instead, the Supreme Court is once again forced to answer questions borne from congressional inaction. The Supreme Court should curb Trump’s tariff authority, even if the president will lash out at the justices for doing so. 

The justices have been tasked with answering whether Congress has delegated tariff authority to the president, and whether the lawmakers can delegate said authority. 

Trump claims tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 statute that allows the president to “investigate, regulate, or prohibit” international trade in........

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