U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday (September 1, 2025) expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will uphold President Donald Trump’s use of a 1977 emergency powers law to impose sweeping tariffs on most trading partners, but said the administration has a backup plan if it does not.

Mr. Bessent told Reuters he was preparing a legal brief for the U.S. solicitor general, who will oversee the government’s appeal to the Supreme Court, that will underscore the urgency of addressing decades of trade imbalances and stopping the flow of deadly fentanyl into the United States.

A divided U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that most of Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, undercutting the Republican president’s use of the levies as a key economic policy tool. The court allowed the tariffs to remain in place through October 14 to give the Trump administration a chance to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

The 7-4 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., addressed the legality of what Trump calls “reciprocal” tariffs imposed as part of his trade war in April, as well as a separate set of tariffs imposed in February against China, Canada and Mexico aimed at halting imports of fentanyl.

The court’s decision does not affect tariffs issued under other legal authority, such as Mr. Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Mr. Trump justified both sets of tariffs — as well as more recent levies — under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. IEEPA gives the president the power to address “unusual and extraordinary” threats during national emergencies.

“I’m confident the Supreme Court will uphold it — will uphold the president’s authority to use IEEPA. And there are lots of other authorities that can be used — not as efficient, not as powerful,” Mr. Bessent said. He spoke to Reuters during a visit to a diner in the Washington suburbs.

One of those authorities, he added, could be Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% for five months against imports from countries that are found to discriminate against U.S. commerce.

Fentanyl influx

Mr. Bessent said the influx of deadly fentanyl, linked to some 70,000 deaths a year in the United States, was a legitimate reason to call an emergency.

“If this is not a national emergency, what is?” Mr. Bessent said, referring to thousands of drug overdoses linked to fentanyl. “When can you use IEEPA if not for fentanyl?”

He said the brief, to be submitted Tuesday or Wednesday, would focus on the idea that U.S. trade deficits with other countries had been expanding for years and were reaching a tipping point that could lead to far greater consequences.

“We’ve had these trade deficits for years, but they keep getting bigger and bigger,” he said. “We are approaching a tipping point… so preventing a calamity is an emergency.”

Mr. Bessent noted that action by then-President George W. Bush on mortgages might have averted the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, which was triggered by excessive speculation on property values by both homeowners and financial institutions.

‘India fuelling Russian war machine’

Mr. Bessent played down the notion that Mr. Trump’s tariffs were bringing countries like Russia, China and India closer together, dismissing a China-hosted gathering in Shanghai of 20 leaders from non-Western countries as “performative.”

“It happens every year for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” he said. “It’s more of the same.” Accusing India and Russia of fueling “the Russian war machine”, he said the allies would also step up.

He said the U.S. was making headway in convincing Europe to join Washington’s crackdown on India over its purchases of Russian oil through a 25% additional tariff, but did not comment on whether the U.S. would use similar pressure on China.

China, he said, would struggle to find sufficient markets for its goods outside the United States, Europe, and other English-speaking countries. “They don’t have a high enough per capita income in these other countries,” he said.

India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of penalties, two Government sources told The New York Times, not wishing to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“These are long-term oil contracts,” one of the sources said. “It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight.”

Mr. Trump last month indicated in a Truth Social post that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. On Friday (August 1, 2025), Mr. Trump told reporters that he had heard that India would no longer be buying oil from Russia.

​Soured relations: The Hindu editorial on Trump’s 25% tariff, ‘penalty’

The New York Times on Saturday (August 2, 2025) quoted two unnamed senior Indian officials as saying there had been no change in Indian government policy, with one official saying the government had “not given any direction to oil companies” to cut back imports from Russia.

Reuters reported this week that Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil in the past week, following a narrowing of discounts in July.

“On our energy sourcing requirements … we look at what is there available in the markets, what is there on offer, and also what is the prevailing global situation or circumstances,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters during a regular briefing on Friday.

Mr. Jaiswal added that India has a “steady and time-tested partnership” with Russia, and that New Delhi’s relations with various countries stand on their own merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country.

The White House in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Indian refiners are pulling back from Russian crude as discounts shrink to their lowest since 2022, when Western sanctions were first imposed on Moscow, due to lower Russian exports and steady demand, sources said earlier this week.

The country’s state refiners — Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd — have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, four sources familiar with the refiners’ purchase plans told Reuters.

India’s top oil supplier

On July 14, Mr. Trump threatened 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine. Russia is the top supplier to India, responsible for about 35% of India’s overall supplies.

Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India during the first six months of 2025, accounting for about 35% of India’s overall supplies, followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer, received about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil in January-June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by sources.

Nayara Energy, a major buyer of Russian oil, was recently sanctioned by the European Union as the refinery is majority-owned by Russian entities, including oil major Rosneft .

Last month, Reuters reported that Nayara’s chief executive had resigned after the imposition of EU sanctions and company veteran Sergey Denisov had been appointed as CEO.

Three vessels laden with oil products from Nayara Energy have yet to discharge their cargoes, hindered by the new EU sanctions on the Russia-backed refiner, Reuters reported late last month.