"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."
"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."
President Donald Trump has treated tariffs and the threat of them as a central instrument of statecraft, employing import taxes to secure ceasefires, pressure countries on migration and drugs, and exert political leverage. The administration has used penalties against nations such as Brazil and Canada. The Supreme Court is hearing whether the president exceeded federal law by using an emergency powers statute to implement many tariffs. Lower courts and most judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found limits on that authority. The Justice Department contends tariff measures fall within presidential foreign-affairs powers and deserve judicial deference. A ruling against the administration could curtail a swift enforcement tool used in foreign policy.
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