Consumer Watchdog Urges Supreme Court to Rein In Presidential Tariff Powers Driving Up Consumer Prices

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog today filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court urging the Justices to strike down President Donald Trump's sweeping "emergency" tariffs, warning that unchecked presidential power under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) threatens both consumers' pocketbooks and the Constitution's separation of powers.

The nonprofit, non-partisan consumer protection public-interest group joined constitutional law scholar Alan B. Morrison of George Washington University Law School and international trade attorney R. Will Planert of Morris Manning & Martin LLP in the filing in support of the challengers in Learning Resources v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, companion cases that test whether any President may unilaterally impose billions of dollars in tariffs—effectively new taxes on imported goods—simply by declaring a national emergency.

"If IEEPA really lets a President slap tariffs on any product, in any amount, for any reason, it hands the Executive a blank check the Constitution forbids," said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog. "Only Congress can tax the American people. The Court must draw the line."

The brief argues that:

• Tariffs act as a regressive tax that raises prices on consumer household essentials and disproportionately burdens working families and small businesses.
• IEEPA lacks an "intelligible principle"—it provides no limits on the President's ability to impose, vary, or lift tariffs, no standards for rate or duration, and no provision for judicial review.
• Recent precedent, such as FCC v. Consumers' Research, 145 S. Ct. 2485 (2025), underscores that Congress must set clear boundaries when delegating economic power; IEEPA, by contrast, contains none.

"These tariffs have already generated nearly $90 billion in hidden taxes on consumers," said William Pletcher, Litigation Director at Consumer Watchdog. "The Supreme Court should reaffirm that only Congress can tax and spend—and that there is no justification here for abandoning the separation of powers."

Consumer Watchdog previously filed briefs in both courts below, warning that IEEPA's open-ended grant of authority inevitably raises consumer prices and violates Article I's limits on delegating legislative power to the Executive Branch. The appellate courts agreed that the President lacked statutory authority to impose the tariffs; the administration appealed to the Supreme Court. 

Benjamin Powell and Ryan Melino of Consumer Watchdog contributed to the preparation of the brief.

A decision in the case is expected in 2026.

Download: Amicus Brief of Consumer Watchdog (Oct. 8, 2025)

Read Consumer Watchdog's previous releases here and here.

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog