Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the Trump administration has a wide array of backup plans to impose tariffs on foreign trading partners if the Supreme Court strikes down the rates set under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
“I’m confident the Supreme Court will … uphold the president’s authority to use IEEPA,” Bessent told Reuters in an interview published Monday. “And there are lots of other authorities that can be used – not as efficient, not as powerful.”
The Treasury secretary said Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 would authorize the president to set new or additional duties on nations discriminating against U.S. commerce. The measure would permit tariffs of up to 50 percent for five months against imports from other countries, he added.
Bessent also noted that the administration would continue to examine alternative efforts to address trade imbalances as deficits keep “getting bigger and bigger.”
His comments follow Friday’s 7-4 appeals court ruling where judges rejected the Trump administration’s argument that emergency powers justified the steep tariffs. The president pushed back on the decision.
“If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America. At the start of this Labor Day weekend, we should all remember that TARIFFS are the best tool to help our Workers, and support Companies that produce great MADE IN AMERICA products,” President Trump wrote in a Friday statement on X.
The appeals court ruling does not kick in until Oct. 14, giving the administration time to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
IEEPA requires the country to be under an “unusual and extraordinary threat” in order for the president to set economic sanctions to combat growing concerns. Trump has argued that the influx of fentanyl is an emergency that must be mitigated through the import taxes on foreign partners — which he says will boost border security and efforts to decrease the flow of drugs into the U.S.
“If this is not a national emergency, what is?” Bessent told Reuters. “When can you use IEEPA if not for fentanyl?”
He added that between growing death rates and trade deficits, the country’s leaders must act to prevent a “calamity.”
Researchers from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated 80,391 Americans — more than half from fentanyl alone — died from drug overdoses last year.
Later Monday, Bessent, in a separate interview with Fox News on Monday, signaled the administration is confident in the nation’s highest court.
“We think we’re gonna win at the Supreme Court. We are close to a tipping point where we could have financial instability due to these large and persistent trade deficits,” he told the outlet. “So we are trying to head off a crisis.”
