‘I just don’t understand this argument,’ Sotomayor said with other justices expressing skepticism at the legality of duties
US politics – live updates
The Trump administration faced tough questions at the US supreme court over the legality of its sweeping global tariff regime, as justices expressed skepticism over the law it used to slap steep duties on almost every US trading partner.
Justices started to hear oral arguments this morning on tariffs at the heart of the president’s policy platform, a crucial legal test of his controversial economic strategy – and power.
In a series of executive orders issued earlier this year, Trump cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, a 1977 law which in some circumstances grants the president authority to regulate or prohibit international transactions during a national emergency, as he slapped steep duties on imports into the US.
