Is the Supreme Court going to let Trump’s trade war fly?

Key Points:

• President Trump has announced a 50% tariff on $20 billion of Canadian goods, invoking Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930—a rarely used statute allowing tariffs on countries found to discriminate against the U.S.—marking a new legal approach after previous tariff attempts were blocked by courts.
• Section 338 permits the president to impose tariffs with fewer procedural requirements, potentially enabling broad tariff powers, but its application is untested in courts, raising significant legal uncertainty and potential challenges.
• The current tariffs target Canada amid ongoing trade tensions, with Trump citing Canadian retaliatory tariffs and alleged discrimination in cheese trade quotas as justification, though experts view some claims as politically motivated and legally dubious.
• Past Trump administration tariff efforts under other laws like IEEPA, Section 122, and Section 301 faced legal setbacks or ongoing litigation, illustrating a pattern of seeking new legal avenues to impose tariffs despite judicial resistance.
• Legal experts anticipate lawsuits challenging the Section 338 tariffs soon, but outcomes remain unclear due to the statute’s lack of judicial precedent, while Trump has already threatened further tariffs on Canadian autos by 2027.