(The Center Square) – In the hours after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down much of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, legislators and state officials in California applauded the decision.
“There’s no secret that I have been critical of the tariff policy, both from a personal, as well as from a public policy, perspective,” state Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, told The Center Square on Friday. “I have never been able to understand how the authority that he has used to impose the tariffs was constitutional, so I certainly agree with what the Supreme Court has ruled.”
The big question, Niello added, is how the effects of this decision could play out.
“That could be a rather messy process,” Niello said. “Perhaps that might take an act of Congress, short of which the administration or the government would have to refund all of the tariffs that were collected. It remains to be seen exactly how all of that is going to work out.”
As reported by The Center Square, the U.S. Supreme Court early Friday ruled that a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, doesn’t give the president authority to impose tariffs – running counter to the Trump administration’s interpretation of that law. In the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court took the position that the framers of the Constitution did not give the power to issue tariffs to the executive branch. Justices said the Trump administration’s tariffs violated the major questions doctrine.
A news release from California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said Friday’s decision on the constitutionality of the tariffs ended an “unlawful and chaotic” tariff regime.
“Today, the highest court in the country has agreed with arguments put forth by California, our sister states, and the dedicated businesses that decided to fight for their livelihoods and for what was right,” Bonta said. “While this is great news, we must not forget the chaos that sent businesses, consumers, and global economies reeling. California celebrates today’s tremendous win and remains committed to tackling Donald Trump’s agenda to fuel the unaffordability crisis.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom, when asked at a press conference at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center on Friday about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, remarked that the tariffs were illegal from the beginning.
"It was shocking to me that three members of the Supreme Court actually agreed with Trump," Newsom told reporters. "He should return that money immediately. Even his hand-picked Supreme Court said what he was doing is lawless."
Newsom said gross domestic product and manufacturing have gone down during the Trump administration while unemployment has risen. He added that the tariffs are "the most aggressive sales tax” in the country’s history.
“Pay us back,” Newsom said. “Put that back into the pockets of American families."
Newsom noted he was the first governor to sue the Trump administration over the tariffs.
None of the Democratic California legislators contacted by The Center Square were available to comment on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision. Bipartisan support for the ruling came Southwestern members of Congress, although one Republican Arizonan congressman expressed opposition to the ruling, as reported earlier by The Center Square.
Shortly after the Supreme Court issued its decision on the Trump administration’s tariffs, Trump announced a new round of tariffs that would see a 10% charge on imports from around the world, The Center Square reported on Friday.
