Exclusive: Tariffs on India key to Ukraine peace, Team Trump tells US top court

US President Donald Trump’s administration warned in court papers that striking down tariffs on countries including India would expose the United States to trade retaliation and undercut efforts to secure peace abroad.

In an appeal to the US Supreme Court, accessed by India Today, Solicitor General John Sauer urged justices to preserve the duties, which a lower court found unlawful. “The stakes in this case could not be higher,” the filing said, calling tariffs “a crucial aspect of our push for peace” in Ukraine and a shield against economic catastrophe.

“We recently authorised tariffs against India for purchasing Russian energy products to deal with a preexisting national emergency regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine,” the administration wrote, adding that removing them “would thrust America to the brink of an economic catastrophe.”

The emergency appeal follows a 7-4 decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which ruled that Trump exceeded his authority by invoking emergency economic powers to impose wide-ranging duties. The administration countered that the measures are promoting “peace and unprecedented economic prosperity” while driving countries into new trade frameworks with Washington.

“With tariffs, the United States is a rich nation; without tariffs, a poor nation,” the filing said. It argued that rolling them back would weaken the country’s defense-industrial base, jeopardize USD 1.2 trillion in annual trade deficits, and cast “a pall of uncertainty upon ongoing foreign negotiations.”

The government said that because of the duties, “six major trading partners and the 27-nation European Union have already entered into framework deals,” strengthening America’s global position.

“One year ago, the United States was a dead country, and now, because of the trillions of dollars being paid by countries that have so badly abused us, America is a strong, financially viable, and respected country again,” the filing said.

The Trump administration urged the justices to quickly rule that the president has the authority under federal law to impose broad import taxes, challenging an appeals court decision that deemed most of President Trump’s tariffs an unlawful use of emergency powers.

A majority of the appeals court judges held that the 1977 Emergency Economic Powers Act does not permit the president to override Congress’s authority to set tariffs. Dissenting judges, however, argued that the law does allow the president to regulate imports during emergencies without explicit restrictions.

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