Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court’s rebuke against President Donald Trump’s tariffs is being applauded by some in Michigan.
In a 6-3 ruling, the nation’s highest court ruled the U.S. Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs, and that the president exceeded his authority.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer called the ruling “a decisive and welcome step forward.”
“I’m hopeful that this decision will force Congress and the president to the table to work together on a more commonsense, strategic trade policy,” said Whitmer in a written statement.
Michigan Congresswoman and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Haley Stevens said “Michigan workers and businesses should not be forced to pay the price for Trump’s reckless, shoot-from-the-hip tariffs.”
The administration’s use of tariffs has divided business leaders.
Despite the ruling, some business analysts cautiously warned this is not the end to the Trump administration’s commitment to using tariffs as a key component of its trade policy.
Erik Gordon is an assistant professor of entrepreneurial studies at the University of Michigan. He said the Trump administration’s shifting tariff policy has been a burden on a variety of industries in Michigan including automotive, pharmaceutical, and health care.
"Tariff changes should be based on long-term policy, using a legal process that isn't controversial and won't be overturned after companies make expensive changes in their supply chain or pay billions in tariffs," Gordon said.
The president still has options to keep taxing imports aggressively even though the justices ruled against him. He can re-use tariff powers he deployed in his first term and can reach for others, including one that dates back to the Great Depression. Trump had warned an adverse ruling by the Supreme Court would leave the United States “defenseless’’ and possibly “reduced to almost Third World status.’’
Michael Speigl, a lecturer of marketing at the University of Michigan, said despite the court’s ruling, he expects Michigan’s auto industry will continue to account for Trump’s tariffs in their plans, under the assumption that the administration will find a different path to impose them.
"For the auto industry, the legal specifics of a ruling matter far less than the political reality: Automakers have effectively 'priced in' these tariffs and adjusted their supply chains months ago," Speigl said.
Not long after his defeat in the U.S. Supreme Court, Trump said he'll sign an executive order to enact a new 10% global tariff.
