Trump Moves Supreme Court To Strike Down Appeals Court Ruling On Tariffs Expeditiously: Report - Strategist Explains Why SCOTUS Verdict Doesn't Matter Much

President Donald Trump has reportedly appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by an appeals court that found his tariffs to be illegal.  

An NBC News report, citing court filings shared by the Department of Justice (DoJ), but which haven't been officially docketed by the apex court, stated that the Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to expeditiously decide whether the president has the power to impose broad tariffs.

The DoJ has reportedly made two filings, one as an appeal and another as a motion to expedite. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has reportedly given a declaration in the filing, emphasizing the importance of tariffs.

The NBC report stated that Solicitor General John Sauer has requested that the justices expedite consideration of the case, so that oral arguments can be heard as soon as the first week of November. This requires that the Supreme Court decide whether to take up the case or not by next week.

The stock market has stayed resilient amid the tariff uncertainty. The SPDR S & P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the S & P 500 Index, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) have added 10.50% and 11.80%, respectively, this year.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the SPY ETF stayed 'bullish' (59/100), accompanied by 'normal' message volume. The QQQ ETF elicited 'bearish' sentiment (25/100), with the message volume on the stream improving slightly to 'normal' levels.

The referral to the Supreme Court comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled last Friday that the“core Congressional power to impose taxes such as tariffs is vested exclusively in the legislative branch by the Constitution.”

“Tariffs are a core Congressional power.”

The ruling is seen to impact the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and the 25% tariff fixed for exports from Canada, China and Mexico for their failure to curb fentanyl flows. It, however, does not alter the sectoral tariffs put in place by the administration under the various sections of the Trade Act of 1974 and the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

The appeals court ruling allows the tariffs to stay in place until at least Oct. 14.

In a note released Wednesday, LPL Chief Equity Strategist Jeff Buchbinder said the tariff ruling wouldn't matter as much as feared. Citing Bloomberg's estimates, the strategist said, if all the tariffs imposed under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) are cancelled, the overall U.S. tariff rate will drop to less than 7% from 16%.

Buchbinder sees the Trump administration having a backup plan.“Most of these tariffs can be put back into place even if the Supreme Court rules they are illegal,” he said. 

The administration could use Section 122 to temporarily reimpose the tariffs (for 150 days), even as an investigation takes place, enabling the use of Section 301, he added.

Buchbinder said,“That would allow the U.S. Trade Representative to conduct the required multi-month investigation to put on Section 301 tariffs that require proof of unfair trade practices by countries,” adding that the 301 tariffs can be extended after four years, making them a long-term strategy.

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