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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to move fast to accept and rule on an appeal to overturn lower court decisions that found most of his tariffs are illegal.
- A federal appeals court last Friday ruled that Trump exceeded his legal authority in implementing many of the sweeping tariffs that have been imposed this year.
- According to reports, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the Trump administration’s submission to the Supreme Court that the lower court ruling “is already adversely affecting ongoing negotiations.”
President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to move fast to accept and rule on an appeal that is looking to overturn lower court decisions that found most of his tariffs are illegal.
A White House spokesperson confirmed that the Trump administration had made the submission to the Supreme Court, which also noted that the ruling last week was hurting the White House in ongoing trade negotiations.
The administration has asked the court to make a decision to take up the case by Sept. 10 and hold arguments in November, according to Reuters.
A federal appeals court last Friday ruled that Trump exceeded his legal authority in implementing many of the sweeping tariffs that have been imposed this year.
According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer urged the justices to rule on the case “to the maximum extent feasible, given the enormous importance of quickly confirming the full legal standing of the president’s tariffs.”
Sauer’s Supreme Court submission, according to The Journal, included a declaration from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying that the recent lower court ruling “is already adversely affecting ongoing negotiations. World leaders are questioning the president’s authority to impose tariffs, walking away from or delaying negotiations, and/or imposing a different calculus on their negotiating positions.”
Bessent also said, according to both CNBC and The Journal, that delaying the ruling until June 2026, when the Supreme Court’s next term ends, could “result in a scenario in which $750 billion-$1 trillion in tariffs have already been collected, and unwinding them could cause significant disruption.”
UPDATE—Sept. 4, 2025: This article has been updated with a White House spokesperson’s confirmation of the Trump administration’s submission to the Supreme Court.

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