NextFin news, WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Saturday, September 20, 2025, Juscelino Colares, a business law professor at Case Western Reserve University who has worked on international trade under three U.S. presidents, stated that the Supreme Court could side with former President Donald Trump in a significant tariff case.
The case concerns tariffs imposed by the Trump administration under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Lower courts had ruled that Congress holds the power of the purse, limiting the executive branch's authority to impose tariffs without congressional approval. However, Colares argued that the Supreme Court might find that the president has the power to "regulate" the importation of goods during a declared national emergency, as authorized by IEEPA.
Colares noted that while no previous president had used tariffs by claiming an emergency under the 1977 law, a 1975 ruling by the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals upheld former President Richard Nixon's 10% import surcharge based on similar language in the Trading With the Enemy Act, which preceded IEEPA.
The professor explained that if the Supreme Court focuses on the emergency nature of the tariffs imposed by Trump, it may allow the administration to continue collecting tariffs as part of ongoing trade negotiations. However, this would be contingent on Trump eventually bringing trade deals to Congress for approval or obtaining explicit congressional authorization for tariff negotiations.
The case is critical because it addresses the balance of power between the executive branch and Congress in setting trade policy and tariffs, with potential implications for U.S. economic and foreign policy.
This explanation was published by the Washington Examiner on September 20, 2025, based on Colares' legal analysis and historical precedents.
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