The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Scott Bessent, defended this Wednesday the tariff policy imposed by the president, Donald Trump, despite the skepticism raised by the justices of the Supreme Court in a hearing.
“President Trump has sought to rebalance decades of unfair trade against the US that have brought us to a tipping point. The goal of his agenda is to bring back manufacturing and balance deficits and trade barriers, which have reached critical levels, with our global trading partners,” Bessent wrote in a message on the X network.
The secretary referred to the Supreme Court hearing this Wednesday to determine whether Trump did the right thing by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which grants the president special powers in the event of a “national emergency” to impose tariffs, a policy that according to the Constitution depends on Congress.
Read: Court questions the legality of Trump’s tariffs
The justices, who have not yet made a decision, raised questions about the legality of the tariffs even though the court’s conservative majority usually rules in line with the Trump Administration.
Among other things, they argued that it is a responsibility of Congress and these taxes should not serve to raise money, but to regulate.
“Tariff revenues are secondary to these urgent objectives, not the underlying reason for their implementation. In fact, as I have said many times, as trade conditions become fairer, American manufactured goods will substitute for imported ones. Tariff revenues will decrease and US domestic tax revenues will increase,” he added.
Bessent charged against the lawyers of the plaintiffs, a group of companies and the prosecutors of twelve states, whom he accused of “misrepresenting” with their arguments: “What shameful statements before the Supreme Court.”
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“President Trump has used the authority of the IEEPA to address the fentanyl crisis, pull us out of the trade policy abyss, secure supplies of rare earths from China, and reduce purchases of Russian oil – all urgent national security issues,” he said.
“Economic security is national security, and the IEEPA provides a powerful tool for President Trump to protect our people, our economy, and our nation,” he concluded.
The high court’s ruling could be known at the end of June, at the close of the judicial process, although it is possible that given the importance of the case it will arrive sooner.
With information from EFE
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