Tariff fight in US Supreme Court: Trump mentions India in appeal; connects it to Ukraine-Russia war

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump on Thursday moved Supreme Court challenging a federal court's ruling that US president is not authorised to impose sweeping tariffs on foreign import.

In the appeal submitted to the apex court, Trump justified the sweeping tariffs imposed on India and said that it was a crucial aspect for his bid to pause the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.


"The President recently authorised IEEPA tariffs against India for purchasing Russian energy products, to deal with a preexisting national emergency regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, as a crucial aspect of his push for peace in that war-torn country," it said.

"The Federal Circuit did not question that those crises constitute “unusual and extraordinary threat[s]” to “national security, foreign policy, or [the US] economy” sufficient to trigger the President’s emergency powers under IEEPA. 50 USC 1701(a)," it added.

The appeal also said that "decision casts a pall of uncertainty upon ongoing foreign negotiations that the President has been pursuing through tariffs over the past five months, jeopardizing both already negotiated framework deals and ongoing negotiations."

This comes as Donald Trump said that US might have to "unwind" trade deals it reached with the European Union, Japan and South Korea, among others, if it loses the case, and warned that a loss would cause the US "to suffer so greatly."

"We made a deal with the European Union where they're paying us almost a trillion dollars. And you know what? They're happy. It's done. These deals are all done," he said. "I guess we'd have to unwind them."

"Our country has a chance to be unbelievably rich again. It could also be unbelievably poor again. If we don't win that case, our country is going to suffer so greatly, so greatly," he added.

An attorney for the small businesses rocked by the tariffs, Jeffrey Schwab with the Liberty Justice Center, said the stakes are also high for his clients.

“These unlawful tariffs are inflicting serious harm on small businesses and jeopardizing their survival. We hope for a prompt resolution of this case for our clients,” he said.

The ruling by the US court of appeals for the federal circuit in Washington, DC, covered two sets of tariffs - Trump’s “reciprocal” duties imposed in April as part of his trade war and another set announced in February against China, Canada and Mexico. It does not affect other tariffs Trump imposed under separate statutes, including those on steel and aluminum imports.

In a 7-4 judgement the court observed: “The statute bestows significant authority on the President to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax,” as quoted by Reuters.

The decision also said Trump had exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).