A top member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet warned Wednesday that the U.S. economy faces a dire future at the hands of the Supreme Court as it prepares to deliberate the emergency use of tariffs.
“If the Supreme Court wants to support the tariffs, they certainly will be on the right side of the law on this,” senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro said on “Mornings with Maria.”
“We’re in a perilous situation, and the Supreme Court — it is useful to remind them of it. I mean, we don’t have resilient, secure supply chains that will protect us in times of conflict,” he continued. “And our economic security is in great peril right now because of that.”
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Expected to announce a decision in January, justices will hear two cases Trump has called “life or death” for the U.S., forcing the nation’s highest court to confront how far a president can go in redirecting U.S. trade policy.
The suits, Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections Inc., were brought by an educational toy manufacturer and a family-owned wine and spirits importer challenging Trump’s tariffs.
Both cases turn on a central question: whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) gave the president authority to impose the tariffs, or whether that move crossed constitutional lines.
“Certainly, it’s a national emergency that China is killing us with fentanyl … I, for years, have talked about the corrosive effect of our trade deficit on our national security by offshoring our manufacturing and defense industrial base. So, the Supreme Court has all the facts before it,” Navarro noted. “It would be an extraordinary denial, particularly in light of the incredible success of the policies.”
He further argued that Trump-era tariffs have brought “billions and billions” of dollars into the economy and allowed the administration to negotiate “better deals” that enhance national security.
“The issue is, how do we best defend ourselves against the mercantilism of the world?” Navarro posited. “Every country in the world, it’s a major trading partner that we run a major deficit with. It’s like fingerprints. They all screw us in their own ways.”
“President Trump is doing everything he can to bring those jobs and factories onshore. It takes time, but the things that are taking place now all point in the direction of a strong, secure America — if President Trump is able to continue to use tariffs as a national security measure under IEEPA.”
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FOX Business’ Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
