MW The Supreme Court's ruling on Trump's tariffs is looming. His Treasury chief says this is the backup plan to keep them going.
By Victor Reklaitis
'We can re-create the exact tariff structure,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that he was "optimistic" that the Supreme Court would rule in the administration's favor on tariffs.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the Trump administration's many country-specific tariffs, while also saying administration officials are ready to maintain the levies through other avenues.
Bessent's comments match up with forecasts that President Donald Trump would respond to a court loss by switching to invoking authorities granted in sections 301 and 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, as well as Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
"We can recreate the exact tariff structure with 301s, with 232s, with the - I think - a 122," the Treasury chief said during the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York City. When Bessent was pushed on whether those options would provide a permanent solution, he seemed to indicate that would largely be the case. "The 122s are permanently, but the others, we can do it," he said.
See: Here are the White House's tariff options after losing a case at the Court of International Trade
The Supreme Court is preparing to rule on whether Trump exceeded his authority this year in using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to justify the bulk of his tariffs. Opponents of Trump's IEEPA-based tariffs have emphasized that the law doesn't explicitly mention tariffs and that no president has ever used IEEPA to impose tariffs. Lower courts have ruled against Trump. The case does not affect his many sector-based tariffs.
The country's high court heard oral arguments in the case on Nov. 5, and Trump's chances of winning dropped in prediction markets after some conservative justices' questions for the president's attorney were widely perceived as especially skeptical. One such market, Kalshi, recently was putting the chance of a Trump win at 25%, while Polymarket put it at 27%.
Bessent said on Wednesday that he was "optimistic" that the court would rule in the administration's favor and emphasized that his perception of how the oral arguments went for Trump's lawyer was "very different" from how media reports portrayed the proceedings.
It's not clear when the Supreme Court will announce its decision in this crucial tariff case, but 22V Research analyst Kim Wallace said in a recent note that "many lawyers expect a mid-December determination." Oral arguments in Trump's case against Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook are scheduled for Jan. 21 at the court, and that "likely supports expectations of a December IEEPA ruling," added Wallace, a senior managing director at 22V and head of the research firm's Washington policy risk team. He also said he expects the high court will rule against the Trump administration.
Costco Wholesale Corp. $(COST)$ has become the latest and one of the biggest companies to sue the Trump administration over tariffs in a bid to secure a full refund should the Supreme Court find the levies illegal.
Market strategists have been divided on what a Supreme Court loss would mean for stocks SPX DJIA, as MarketWatch has reported. Some forecasters have said tossing out the IEEPA tariffs would mean more uncertainty, which would weigh on stocks, while others have said eliminating the tariffs would boost both economic growth and equities.
Now read: U.S. economy is still growing, ISM says, but 'tariff uncertainty' is depressing sales and hiring
And see: Trump rolls back his tariffs on beef, coffee and bananas
-Victor Reklaitis
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December 03, 2025 11:57 ET (16:57 GMT)
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