Tariffs Face Legal Threat That Puts Trump’s Deficit Plan at Risk

President Donald Trump’s most concrete step to rein in unprecedented US budget deficits — sweeping tariff hikes — faces the danger of a legal reversal that would put the nation’s finances on an even shakier footing.

Trump and top aides including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have argued that federal borrowing needs will shrink in coming years as Republican tax cuts, reduced regulation and big-ticket investment pledges from companies and foreign nations stoke economic growth and goose federal revenues. Many economists question that outlook, but few disagree that tariff hikes are indeed generating a new stream of cash for the ...