Trump Says Admin Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling in Tariffs Appeal

The appeal comes after the Federal Circuit Court struck down most of the president’s reciprocal tariffs.

Authority of Law statue at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Aug. 8, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump said on Sept. 2 that the government will ask the Supreme Court tomorrow to expedite review of a federal appeals court ruling that struck down most of his reciprocal tariffs.

“Now we’re going to be asking for early admittance where we’re going tomorrow, and we’re going to ask for ... an expedited ruling,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House.

The president was referring to the upcoming appeal of the 7–4 ruling on Aug. 29 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the consolidated cases of V.O.S. Selections Inc. v. United States and Oregon v. Trump.

The tariffs remain in effect for the time being. The circuit court ruling is not scheduled to take effect until Oct. 14.

The president has made tariffs the centerpiece of his foreign policy in his second administration, saying they may be used to encourage manufacturing to return to the United States. He has also said that tariffs may help correct what he considers to be unfair trade practices by countries that export goods to the United States.

“Without the tariffs, this country is in serious, serious trouble. We’ve taken in almost $17 trillion of investment [which] is coming in. Most of it is coming because of tariffs,” Trump told reporters.

Without the tariffs, “we wouldn’t have a chance because we wouldn’t be able to protect those investments of the companies coming in. So if you took away tariffs, we could end up being a third-world country,” he said.

Uncertainty over the legal status of the tariffs is roiling the markets, Trump said.

“The stock market’s down because of that. Because the stock market needs the tariffs. They want the tariffs,” he said.

The Federal Circuit majority held that the bulk of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs are unlawful and that the president exceeded his lawful authority when enacting them. A reciprocal tariff is one imposed by one country on imports from another to match the tariff the other country imposes on the first country’s exports.

The U.S. Court of International Trade previously held that the president incorrectly used his emergency powers to enact the tariffs.

The circuit court majority similarly determined that the president went beyond his authority when he invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

“The statute bestows significant authority on the President to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax,” the court said.

The court also stated that it seems “unlikely that Congress intended, in enacting [the International Emergency Economic Powers Act], to depart from its past practice and grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs.

“The statute neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the President’s power to impose tariffs.”

Trump told reporters he hopes the Supreme Court upholds the tariffs.

“It’s a very important decision, and frankly, if they make the wrong decision, it would be a devastation for our country,” he said.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.