Supreme Court Ruling Could Dash Trump’s Spending Dreams

Tariffs have been the centerpiece of President Trump’s economic agenda, and he has turned them into both a revenue raiser and a slush fund for a raft of policy promises. A Cato Institute tracker found he claimed he could use tariff revenue to pay for at least 11 federal government policies or programs.

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that he exceeded his authority under the law he tried to use to impose more than $100 billion of his tariffs, many of those promises are even less likely to be fulfilled. It was never clear if Mr. Trump could use tariff revenue to fund his ideas without Congress’s approval, but he regularly gave himself wide latitude to do so.

Economists estimate the Trump administration will have to refund around $120 billion to American importers. Mr. Trump will most likely try to impose levies under different tariff authorities, which could allow him to pay for some of his proposals.

United States

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