Updated

Updated · CNN · Jul 13

Trump Backs Russia Sanctions Bill, Clearing Path for Tariffs on Nations Buying 3 Russian Exports

Updated

Updated · CNN · Jul 13

Trump Backs Russia Sanctions Bill, Clearing Path for Tariffs on Nations Buying 3 Russian Exports

Q: How did Congress just restore tariff powers the Supreme Court recently blocked?

Congress did not broadly “restore” the exact tariff power the Supreme Court blocked; it is doing so in a narrower, legally cleaner way by giving the president an explicit new tariff authorization in the Russia sanctions bill. The Court’s February ruling in *Learning Resources v. Trump* said the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not clearly authorize tariffs. The justices drew a sharp line: regulating imports is not the same as taxing them, and tariff power must come from Congress in unmistakable terms. That is why the pending Sanctioning Russia Act matters. Unlike IEEPA, the bill expressly authorizes the president to raise duties on imports from countries that keep buying Russian oil, gas, or uranium. In other words, Congress is not reviving the old emergency-power theory; it is supplying the explicit statutory language the Court said was missing. At the same time, the administration has also tried to preserve tariff leverage through older laws Congress had already passed, including Sections 122, 232 and 301 of the Trade Act framework. Those authorities were not the basis of the Supreme Court’s IEEPA ruling, though some uses of them remain vulnerable to litigation. So the short answer is that Congress is restoring tariff power by legislating it directly. The Russia sanctions package would create a new, specific delegation tied to Moscow-related secondary sanctions, making it much harder to challenge than the broader emergency tariffs the Court struck down.

3 articles · Updated · CNN · Jul 13

A White House official said Trump will support a bipartisan Russia sanctions package, a shift that removes a major uncertainty around the bill’s passage.
The measure would let Trump impose heavy tariffs on imports from countries that buy Russian oil, uranium and natural gas, aiming to further weaken Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
Trump had repeatedly criticized the legislation and sought more direct discretion on sanctions, but senators said Friday they had reached an agreement with the administration after extensive negotiations.
John Thune and Richard Blumenthal said leaders are now working on timing and final preparations, including naming a new Republican lead sponsor after Lindsey Graham’s death.
Graham had pushed the package for years, and allies cast quick passage as both a policy move on Russia and a tribute to the late senator’s legacy.