Bessent: Unlikely Supreme Court will overrule tariffs, Trump's 'signature economic policy'

Politics

Bessent: Unlikely Supreme Court will overrule tariffs, Trump's 'signature economic policy'

Published Sun, Jan 18 2026

10:22 AM EST

Updated 9 Min Ago

Garrett Downs@in/garrett-downs-28528513b/@_garrettdownsWATCH LIVE

Key Points

  • Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday it's unlikely the Supreme Court will overturn President Donald Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
  • The top court could decide on the legality of Trump's use of the IEEPA to impose tariffs as soon as this week.
  • "I believe that it is very unlikely that the Supreme Court will overrule a president's signature economic policy," Bessent said.

Scott Bessent, US treasury secretary, during an Economic Club of Minnesota event in Golden Valley, Minnesota, US, on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.

Ben Brewer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said it's "very unlikely" that the Supreme Court will overturn President Donald Trump's use of emergency powers to impose tariffs, with a potential decision from the court looming as early as this week.

"I believe that it is very unlikely that the Supreme Court will overrule a president's signature economic policy," Bessent said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They did not overrule Obamacare, I believe that the Supreme Court does not want to create chaos."

In June, the Supreme Court upheld a key Affordable Care Act provision that set up a panel to recommend preventive care services that insurers must provide at no cost to patients.

Bessent's comments come one day after Trump said he would impose a new slate of tariffs on goods coming from Europe until "a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland."

Trump did not specify in his Truth Social post which statute he was invoking to impose the tariffs, though the move appears to mirror the "liberation day" duties he has imposed on dozens of nations under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The tariffs on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland will begin at 10% on Feb. 1, Trump said. They will then escalate to 25% on June 1, Trump said.

The Supreme Court is set to rule on Trump's use of the IEEPA to impose tariffs before the end of its term, but a decision could come as soon as this week. IEEPA gives the president wide latitude to use economic tools in response to an "unusual and extraordinary threat."

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Bessent said Trump's new tariffs on Europe regarding Greenland are a response to an emergency.

"The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency," Bessent said. "It is a strategic decision by the president ... he is able to use the economic might of the U.S. to avoid a hot war."

Trump has long sought to acquire Greenland, the Arctic territory of Denmark, and has ratcheted up his pressure campaign for a U.S. takeover of the island in recent weeks. Leaders in Greenland, Denmark and across Europe have widely rejected Trump's demands to take over the island.

European leaders of countries targeted by the new tariffs responded on Sunday.

"Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to stand united and coordinated in our response," the leaders of Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement.

"We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind," the statement read.

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland's Prime Minister Vivian Motzfeldt at the White House last week in a meeting that Rasmussen described as "frank but constructive."

After the meeting, the group said the U.S. and Denmark would establish a high-level working group to chart Greenland's future.

The Trump administration claims that a U.S. acquisition of Greenland is critical to national security to counter the expansion of Russia and China in the region.

CNBC has reached out to the White House and the Treasury Department to clarify what statute Trump is using to impose the new European tariffs.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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