Trump slams SC tariff block as ‘unfortunate,’ claims admin can use ‘alternative legal statutes’

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, Feb 24, that the Supreme Court's recent decision to block his use of emergency powers to impose broad tariffs was ‘very unfortunate.’

However, he insisted that the policy would stay in place under other legal authorities.

Despite the setback, the president projected confidence that existing trade agreements and tariff frameworks would continue.

Trump says tariffs will remain under other statutes

“And then just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court. It just came down. Very unfortunate ruling,” Trump said, referencing the decision that limited his administration’s reliance on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to levy sweeping import duties.

Despite the setback, the president projected confidence that existing trade agreements and tariff frameworks would continue.

“The good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made,” Trump said, adding that foreign governments understand that any new deal he negotiates “could be far worse for them.”

Trump argued that while the court blocked one legal pathway, his administration has other “fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes” available to preserve the tariff structure.

He continued slamming the Supreme Court ruling, “And therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement.”

Supreme Court justices ignored by Trump

The Supreme Court's ruling was a significant limit on executive power.

It highlighted Congress's constitutional role in setting tax and trade policy. Despite this, Trump dismissed the need for legislative action. "Congressional action will not be necessary. It’s already time-tested and approved," he said.

President Donald Trump ignored Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

This happened just days after the 79-year-old criticized the six Supreme Court judges who voted to repeal his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs.

On Friday at the White House, Trump expressed that he was “ashamed of certain members of the court” and stated that some justices were “frankly a disgrace to our nation.”

While Trump shook hands with all the justices in the House on Tuesday, social media users noted that he seemed to particularly snub Coney Barrett.

In a broader economic pitch, Trump revived a familiar proposal: replacing a significant portion of the federal income tax system with tariff revenue.

“As time goes by, I believe the tariffs paid for by foreign countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love,” he said.