Dershowitz: Trump’s Tariff Strategy Can Survive Court Ruling by Repackaging as Foreign Policy Tool

Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz stated Friday that President Donald Trump can still impose steep trade penalties despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that he exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, arguing the administration simply relied on a flawed legal approach.

In an interview, Dershowitz said he anticipated the high court would reject the administration’s legal theory. “I thought that the lawyers for Trump made the wrong argument to the Supreme Court,” he explained. “And I predicted they were going to lose based on their argument.”

The high court ruled that Trump went beyond his authority in invoking IEEPA to impose broad-based tariffs, siding with challengers who argued that Congress, under Article I of the Constitution, holds the power to levy taxes and duties. Dershowitz noted that Article I of the Constitution states that duties and taxes can be imposed only by Congress. “But if you argue that tariffs can be a weapon of foreign policy, a weapon of diplomacy, a weapon of preventing war,” he said, “then it’s an Article II power of the president, and Congress has no power to limit it.”

Dershowitz emphasized that Trump’s legal team framed the tariffs primarily as a revenue-raising measure. “If you argue that it’s a fundraising activity by Congress, of course you’re going to lose,” he stated. Instead, Dershowitz urged a reframing that would ground the policy in the president’s constitutional authority over foreign affairs and national security. “You don’t even have to call them a tariff,” Dershowitz said. “Call them whatever you want—sanctions, financial penalties, or something else.”

He pointed out that Trump has been using tariffs in two distinct ways: one to raise money for the United States (which he does not have authority for) and another as a tool to punish, threaten, deter, and influence foreign governments. “We all know now that President Trump has been using tariffs in two different ways,” Dershowitz said. “One, obviously, to raise money for the United States. He brags about it.”

Dershowitz cited Trump’s claim of helping stop fighting between India and Pakistan by threatening sanctions as an example of the Article II power. “If that’s not an Article II power,” he added, “I don’t know what is.” He also dismissed suggestions that the ruling would require Trump to seek congressional approval for military action against Iran. “Nonsense,” Dershowitz said. “No, no, no, the president doesn’t have to go to Congress.” He referenced past presidents who initiated military actions without formal declarations of war.

Dershowitz added that Trump “wisely” recognized the ruling leaves “flexibility to do the same thing with different labels and different motives,” and expressed confidence in his ability to rebrand the policy. “I’m confident he’s going to do it and it’s going to be successful,” he said.