Legal analyst and author Thane Rosenbaum told Newsmax Saturday that the Supreme Court's rejection of President Donald Trump's IEEPA tariffs turned on a straight reading of statutory text, with "textualists on the courts" concluding "we don't see an emergency here" and treating tariffs as taxes, a power that belongs to Congress.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.
Rosenbaum said the decision was not complicated on the majority's terms, telling "America Right Now" that "cases are simple from the majority opinion" and that the justices focused on the words Congress used.
"Look, cases are simple from the majority opinion," Rosenbaum said. "The president was relying on a statute that used words like emergency and tariffs."
"The textualists on the courts are saying, no, no, our job is to read the law, and we don't see an emergency here."
Rosenbaum framed the majority's analysis as a statutory mismatch, saying "the statute says regulating imports, and you're imposing tariffs," and adding that "tariffs are not the same thing as imports."
He then pushed the argument toward the Constitution's allocation of taxing power, saying, "Taxes are tariffs and taxes are the province of Congress." Rosenbaum said, for the court, "We really can't let you do this."
Newsmax sought Rosenbaum's read on how the justices reached their conclusion.
"This is unconstitutional because you're relying on a statute that is pointing to a number of things that must be present in order for you to use it," Rosenbaum said. "And they're not actually present here." He summed up the result in blunt terms: "And so that's really simply what the court ruled."
Reuters reported a Penn Wharton estimate that more than $175 billion in U.S. revenue could be subject to refunds.
The Supreme Court did not decide the mechanics of the potential refund in its merits holding, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in dissent that "The United States may be required to refund billions of dollars to importers who paid the IEEPA tariffs."
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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