Tariffs aren't a presidential power, says California Attorney General

Consider This from NPR

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🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

Next year, the Supreme Court will decide whether the President can use a five decade old emergency powers act to shape the U.S. economy.

Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or AYEEPA, last spring when he imposed sweeping tariffs of at least 10 percent across all countries.

Wednesday, the nine justices heard oral arguments in the case. And however they decide it — the ruling could affect economic policy and presidential power for years to come.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a democrat, was at the Court and joined Consider This host Juana Summers to talk about the suit and the steps his state is taking to rein in the Trump administration.

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This episode was produced by Brianna Scott and Erika Ryan with engineering by David Greenburg.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	President Donald Trump's trade agenda is on the line Wednesday. That's when the Supreme Court
0:04.8	hears arguments about his broad use of tariffs. The power to impose tariffs is a core
0:10.5	application of the power to regulate foreign commerce. That's John Sauer, solicitor general,
0:16.2	arguing on behalf of the government. Justice Sonia Sotomayor pushed back against Sauer's argument on tariffs
0:22.1	not being a tax. I just don't understand this argument. It's not an article. It's a congressional
0:29.8	power, not a presidential power to tax. And you want to say tariffs are not taxes, but that's
0:35.7	exactly what they are. Trump has been talking about the power of tariffs for some four decades, but this
0:41.3	battle began back in April.
0:43.8	Standing in the Rose Garden, President Trump proclaimed Liberation Day.
0:48.1	April 2nd, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn.
0:55.6	Carrying out his campaign pledge to impose massive tariffs on foreign imports.
1:00.9	A few moments, I will sign a historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries
1:08.0	throughout the world.
1:08.8	Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEPA,
1:14.3	when he imposed the sweeping tariffs.
1:16.5	The goal, he said, was to rebuild American manufacturing.
1:20.0	We're going to build our future with American hand, with American heart.
1:24.8	This will be indeed the golden age of American.
1:30.1	And as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday, the case goes beyond tariffs.
1:35.4	Prominent lawyers and scholars, many of them conservative, argue this case is about presidential power.
1:41.5	This fits into a wider picture that over the last, you know, several decades,
1:46.8	presidents of both political parties have been increasingly asserting unilateral power
	...

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