A slate of economists from across the political spectrum, including former Federal Reserve Chairs Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen, urged the US Supreme Court to overturn most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, saying they’re based on misconceptions about the global economy.
“This is Economics 101, but the implications are profound,” a group of nearly 50 economists wrote in a brief filed Friday.
Trade deficits between the US and other nations are expected and not the “unusual and extraordinary” threat the Trump administration cited in imposing sweeping tariffs under an emergency law, the group said. Besides, the tariffs won’t close the deficits anyway.
“The reciprocal tariffs do not ‘deal with’ the trade deficits,” the group said. “Instead, they will have trillions of dollars’ worth of impact on the economy, an impact that will reverberate across every household and state.”
The Supreme Court will weigh whether Trump’s tariffs were issued legally during oral arguments set for Nov. 5. In the meantime, outside groups are making their views known in so-called friend-of-the-court briefs with the justices. The economists’ filing was one of several submitted before Friday’s deadline for supporters of the companies that are challenging Trump’s tariffs. Others to weigh in included 31 former federal judges, ex-military and national security officers, and the US Chamber of Commerce.