Kevin Hassett says President Donald Trump has a Plan B should the Supreme Court strike down his tariffs.
"We can put a 10% tariff on right away to make up most of the room," the National Economic Council director said Friday on Fox News.
He said the administration could then turn to other, longer-term tariff tools, including Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which targets discriminatory trade practices, or Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which addresses national security threats.
Those two tariff authorities could "backfill what we've already achieved in these great deals with countries," he said, referring to the trade agreements Trump has reached with foreign governments by using tariffs as leverage.
"There are a lot of other legal authorities that can reproduce the deals that we've made with other countries and can do so basically immediately," he told CNBC.
Trump has used tariffs to rebalance global trade and pressure global adversaries and allies on ending foreign wars.
But a case before the Supreme Court could threaten to limit presidential authority by arguing the tariffs amount to a tax on the American people that must be approved by Congress.
Supreme Court justices heard arguments over Trump's tariffs Nov. 5 after lower courts said the president exceeded his authority to impose tariffs on foreign imports.
The high court scheduled Tuesday as its next opinion day on the case.
While the Trump administration is hopeful the Supreme Court will rule in its favor in litigation testing the legality of the president's sweeping global tariffs, it is also exploring what could be done if the court rules against it, Hassett said.
Trump on Monday warned that national security would be "screwed" if the tariffs were unwound.
"Remember, when America shines brightly, the World shines brightly," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "In other words, if the Supreme Court rules against the United States of America on this National Security bonanza, WE'RE SCREWED!"
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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