CNBC Daily Open: Trump tariffs heading to the U.S. Supreme Court might just be the start of a long legal battle

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Taken from CNBC’s Daily Open, our international markets newsletter — Subscribe today

Even if the U.S. Supreme Court agrees with a federal appeals court’s ruling that most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, it doesn’t mean the case is closed on those levies.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly told Reuters on Monday that there are “other authorities that can be used” to uphold the tariffs. One of them could be the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, Bessent said.

(A curious side note: Smoot-Hawley is described by an article on the U.S. Senate website as “among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history.”)