Trump’s trade chief reveals why Supreme Court likely to back WH in next big tax challenge
WASHINGTON – President Trump’s top adviser on trade and manufacturing, Peter Navarro, has a plan “B” to impose additional tariffs on trading partners after the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal the “emergency tax.”
In an interview with “Pod Force One,” Navarro said the high court did not address any use of the tax under different jurisdictions, including Sections 301 and 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.
“All the different powers the President has been delegated by Congress and he can use them — and we will use them,” he told The Post’s Miranda Devine in a recent episode, Wednesday.
“And the decision itself, because that power was repeatedly mentioned by a few judges, has been strengthened. So, when we go to court, next time, and they always drag us to court, we have the Supreme Court on our side.”
Last Friday, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to levy taxes at will.
The majority opinion of the Supreme Court did not take into account the legality of some of Trump’s tax authorities, although Justice Brett Kavanaugh participated in the interpretation as an option in his dissent – which Navarro noted in his Post sitting down.
“We don’t see this as a heavy hit,” Navarro explained, referring to how the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tax. “We believe this will be a very good thing for Trump’s tax policy, because if you analyze the decision, Miranda, it was very small.”
IEEPA taxes account for about $133 billion of the estimated $251 billion in tax revenue collected in the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years as of last December, according to data from US Customs and Border Protection.
Trump likes the IEEPA, a law that has never mentioned the word “currency” and has never been used by another US president to enforce it, because some of his trade authorities are too difficult and complicated.
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After the Supreme Court’s reversal, Trump re-implemented the basic tariff rate under Section 122 of the US Trade Act of 1974, raising it from 10% to 15%.
The increase in global base tariffs is because Trump’s ability to easily impose custom tariffs on certain countries under the IEEPA has been blocked.
To impose country-specific tariffs, Trump’s team intends to use Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which requires US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to first conduct an investigation into foreign trade practices before imposing retaliatory duties.
Section 122 tariffs will expire 150 days after they are issued unless Congress repeats them, which is unlikely. That is why the Trump administration is studying and taking other steps to penetrate some of his administrations.
“It’s a very flexible tool,” Navarro insisted when asked why the Trump administration went with the IEEPA to impose the “Independence Day” tax.
“We knew they might come in [the IEEPA tariffs] he will be beaten.”
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Navarro, a longtime advocate of trade protectionist policies, argued that Trump’s tariff regime was essential to restoring US manufacturing.
The White House manufacturing honcho noted that his favorite economic indicator to track for the US is the Institute of Supply Management Manufacturing Index.
“When it is less than 50[%]then the production goes down,” he said[%]production is increasing,” continued the trade consultant.” As of August 2022, during the Biden administration, that index drops below 50.[%].”
“I mean, [former President Joe] Biden was just killing our productivity. And when we got in, that thing was barely under 50[%] many, many months, as some of these production indicators said, ‘No, things are fine,'” he added.
“Finally, in the last period, it jumped five points, reaching more than 50[%] field. That is what is happening,” he said.
