Tariffs are Trump's favorite foreign policy tool. The Supreme Court
could change how he uses them
[November 03, 2025] By
MICHELLE L. PRICE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump sees tariffs — or the threat of
them — as a powerful tool to bend nations to his will.
He has used them in an unprecedented way, not only as the underpinning
of his economic agenda, but also as the cornerstone of his foreign
policy in his second term.
He has wielded the import taxes as a threat to secure ceasefiresfrom
countries at war. He has used them to browbeat nations into promising to
do more to stop people and drugs from flowing across their borders. He
has used them, in Brazil’s case, as political pressure because its
judicial system prosecuted a former leader who was a Trump ally, and in
a recent blowup with Canada, as punishment for a television ad.
This week, the Supreme Court hears arguments on whether the Republican
president has overstepped federal law with many of his tariffs. A ruling
against him could limit or even take away that swift and blunt leverage
that much of his foreign policy has relied on.
Trump increasingly has expressed agitation and anxiety about the looming
decision in a case he says is one of the most important in U.S. history.
He has said it would be a “disaster” for the United States if the
justices fail to overturn lower court rulings that found he went too far
in using an emergency powers law to put his tariffs in place.
Trump had said he wanted to take the highly unusual step of attending
the arguments in person, but on Sunday said he had ruled it out, saying
he didn't want to be a distraction. “I wanted to go so badly — I just
don’t want to do anything to deflect the importance of that decision,"
he told reporters on Air Force One.
The Justice Department, in its defense of the tariffs, has highlighted
the expansive way Trump has used them, arguing that the trade penalties
are part of his power over foreign affairs, an area where the courts
should not second-guess the president.
Earlier this year, two lower courts and most judges on the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that Trump did not have power
under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to set
tariffs — a power the Constitution grants to Congress. Some dissenting
judges on the court, though, said the 1977 law allows the president to
regulate imports during emergencies without specific limitations.
The courts left the tariffs in place while the Supreme Court considers
the issue. Meanwhile, Trump has continued to wield them as he has tried
to pressure or punish other countries on matters related — and unrelated
-- to trade.
“The fact of the matter is that President Trump has acted lawfully by
using the tariff powers granted to him by Congress in IEEPA to deal with
national emergencies and to safeguard our national security and
economy,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. “We look
forward to ultimate victory on this matter with the Supreme Court.”
Still, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Trump
trade team is working on contingency plans should the high court rule
against the Republican administration.
“We do have backup plans,” Leavitt said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning
Futures." “But ultimately…we are hopeful that the Supreme Court will
rule on the right side of the law and do what’s right for our country.
The importance of this case cannot be overstated. The president must
have the emergency authority to utilize tariffs.”
Most presidents haven't used tariffs as a foreign policy tool
Modern presidents have used financial sanctions such as freezing assets
or blocking trade, not tariffs, for their foreign policy and national
security aims, said Josh Lipsky, a former Obama White House and State
Department staffer who is now the international economics chair at the
Atlantic Council.
There are other laws that presidents can use to impose tariffs. But they
require a monthslong process to justify the rates.
Trump, citing the IEEPA, moves faster and more dramatically. He signs
executive orders imposing new rates and fires off social media posts
threatening additional import taxes, as he did in late October when he
was angered by an anti-tariff television ad aired by the province of
Ontario.
[to top of second column] |
President Donald Trump departs from the North Portico of the White
House, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
 “Presidents have typically treated
tariffs as a scalpel, not a sledgehammer,” Lipsky said.
In contrast, Trump has used tariffs as the backbone of his national
security and foreign policy agenda, Lipsky said. “All of it is
interconnected and tariffs are at the heart of it,” he said.
For example, earlier this year Trump had threatened a 30% tariff on
European imports, a major increase from 1.2% before he took office.
Seeking to secure Trump's support for the NATO military alliance and
for security guarantees for Ukraine in its war with Russia, the
European Union struck a deal to settle for 15% tariffs.
The EU Commission faced criticism from businesses and member states
for giving away too much. But Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič
argued the settlement was “not only about the trade. It’s about
security. It’s about Ukraine.”
Trump has been able "to use it in specific circumstances to get
better deals — not just trade deals — but better deals overall than
he might otherwise,” Lipsky said. “On the other hand, you would say
there’s probably some backlash.”
Supreme Court decision could rattle geopolitics — and wallets
Trump’s tariff strong-arming has rattled relationships with
America’s friends and foes. Some have responded by becoming more
protectionist or looking to foster relations with China, which has
tried to be seen as a promoter of free trade.
There also is the impact on pocketbook. Some businesses have passed
on some of the costs to consumers by raising prices, while others
have waited to see where tariff rates end up.
Tariffs traditionally have been used just as a tool to address trade
practices.
“There’s literally no precedent for the manner that President Trump
is using them,” said Emily Kilcrease, who was a deputy assistant
U.S. trade representative and earlier worked on trade issues at the
National Security Council as a career civil servant during the
Obama, Trump and Biden administrations,
“The use of tariffs the way that President Trump is using them is
like — just broadscale attack on an economy as a way to incentivize
a foreign government to change their posture,” said Kilcrease, now a
director at the Center for a New American Security think tank.
But she said the case is not clear-cut. Kilcrease said she thinks
there is a “decent chance” the Supreme Court could side with Trump
because IEEPA gives the president “broad, flexible emergency
powers.”
The case is also coming before a Supreme Court that has thus far
been reluctant to check to Trump’s wide-ranging use of executive
powers.
If the court constrains Trump, it could leave foreign governments
questioning whether to try to renegotiate trade agreements recently
struck with the Trump administration, experts said. But there are
political realities at play too, because reneging on deals could
affect other foreign policy or economic priorities.
The administration could pivot to try to use other laws to justify
the tariffs, though that could mean a more complex and bureaucratic
process, Kilcrease said.
“It certainly doesn’t take tariffs off the table,” she said. “It
just makes them a little bit slower.”
___
Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this
report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
