Trump to Use Alternative Tariff Powers if Supreme Court Rules Against Him

Trump's tariff endgame: a legal showdown that could reshape trade policy overnight.

Plan B in his pocket

If the Supreme Court shuts down his primary tariff authority, Trump won't be waiting around. He's got a backup plan—alternative statutory powers that let him slap duties on imports without congressional approval. Think of it as a regulatory side-door, one that bypasses typical legislative gridlock.

Markets hate uncertainty

Forget the legal minutiae. The real story is volatility. Every court date, every ruling, every tweet becomes a potential market-moving event. Supply chains brace for impact, while currency traders watch for the slightest hint of escalation. It's the kind of environment where hedge funds make bank and everyone else pays the price.

A new era of executive trade power

This isn't just about one case. It's about testing the limits of presidential authority in a globalized economy. Win or lose, the precedent could linger for administrations to come—transforming trade from a policy debate into an executive action.

So while lawyers argue constitutional law, the smart money's already positioning. After all, in modern finance, geopolitical risk is just another asset class to exploit.

“There was a big call last night with all the principals to talk about if the Supreme Court were to rule against this IEEPA tariff, what WOULD the next step be?,” Hassett said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” referring to the administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. “There are a lot of other legal authorities that can reproduce the deals that we’ve made with other countries, and can do so basically immediately. And so our expectation is that we’re going to win, and if we don’t win, then we know that we’ve got other tools that we could use that get us to the same place,” he said.

Supreme Court to Vote Against Trump Tariffs?

It’s unclear how close the Supreme Court are to making a decision on Trump’s tariffs. The Court’s first decision day of 2026 came and went last Friday without a ruling on their legality. However, Hassett’s quotes today signal that perhaps the highest court is nearing a decision that the Trump administration would not favor. Trump has already worked on several executive orders without approval from the other branches of government. Therefore, he could search for an alternative way to issue the Tariffs regardless if the other branches find them unconstitutional.

Earlier this week, Trump signed a new bill allowing massive duties on countries that procure Russian petroleum products. Countries that import oil from Russia would be the hardest hit with the highest amount of tariffs by nearly 500%. BRICS members China and India remain at the forefront of the tariffs.