The Supreme Court will fast-track a case testing President Donald Trump’s authority to impose sweeping tariffs without Congress.
The justices will hear oral arguments the first week of November in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, which consolidates challenges from five small businesses and 12 states. Briefs are due Sept. 19.
At stake are Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and country-specific levies on Canada, China and Mexico. The administration has cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify the duties, but a federal appeals court ruled last month that Trump overstepped.
The Department of Justice’s September 2025 filing defended the president’s tariff power, stating that if denied, it would “expose our nation to trade retaliation without effective defenses and thrust America back to the brink of economic catastrophe.”
If the Supreme Court agrees, the government could be forced to refund more than $160 billion in tariffs collected from importers.
The U.S. currently has import tariffs on goods from more than 90 countries, including:
- Brazil: 50%
- India: 50%
- Laos: 40%
- Switzerland: 39%
- Canada: 35%
- China: 30%
- South Africa: 30%
- Mexico: 25%
- Japan: 15%
- South Korea: 15%
