The founders would say Trump’s tariffs are legal

Chad Squitieri is an assistant professor of law at Catholic University of America, where he is the director of the Separation of Powers Institute.

The Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments this week for its new term, which includes two consolidated cases addressing the president’s tariff power. The challengers bringing the cases contend that President Donald Trump has unlawfully exercised taxation power belonging to Congress. But those challengers conflate tariffs with taxes, and the best reading of the law is that the president has the statutory authority to impose the challenged tariffs.