NEW YORK — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday predicted that the administration still will be able to implement its tariff agenda regardless of whether it prevails in a pending case before the Supreme Court.
Repeating assertions he had made prior to the high court hearing a month ago, Bessent cited several sections of 1962 Trade Act that give the president sweeping powers over import duties.
“We can recreate the exact tariff structure with [sections] 301, with 232, with 122,” he said during an onstage interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit.
Asked by host Andrew Ross Sorkin — the founding editor of DealBook and co-host of CNBC’s “Squawk Box” — whether the administration had to implement those measures permanently, Bessent replied, “permanently.”
Section 122 allows for tariff power up to 150 days, but 301 and 232 are less definitive on time frame. Bessent also cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as providing broad tariff authority, though that is the use under scrutiny by the Supreme Court.
