An Illinois-based toy company presented a challenge to President Donald Trump’s tariffs before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, aiming for a swift decision on their legality, despite the odds being against them.
Learning Resources Inc. has submitted an appeal to urge the Supreme Court to address the case promptly instead of allowing it to proceed through the lower courts. The company contends that the President exceeded his authority by imposing tariffs using an emergency powers law without the necessary approval from Congress.
Although the company initially succeeded in the lower court, the ruling is currently stayed as an appeals court reviews a similar decision that broadly obstructs Trump’s tariffs. The appeals court has permitted Trump to continue imposing tariffs under the emergency powers law while they prepare for arguments scheduled for late July.
The company argued in court documents the case can’t wait that long, “in light of the tariffs’ massive impact on virtually every business and consumer across the Nation, and the unremitting whiplash caused by the unfettered tariffing power the President claims.”
The Supreme Court is typically reluctant to take up cases before appeals courts have decided them, lowering the odds that the justices will agree to hear it as quickly as the company is asking.
Still, Learning Resources CEO Rick Woldenberg said tariffs and uncertainty are taking a major toll now. He’s looking ahead to the back-to-school and holiday seasons, when the company usually makes most of its sales for the year.
“All the people that are raising their prices are doing it with a sense of dread,” Woldenberg told The Associated Press. But, “we do not have a choice. We absolutely do not have a choice.”
The company’s attorneys suggested the court could hear arguments in late summer or early fall.
The Trump administration has defended the tariffs by arguing that the emergency powers law gives the president the authority to regulate imports during national emergencies and that the country’s longtime trade deficit qualifies as a national emergency.
Trump has framed tariffs as a tool to lure factories back to America, raise money for the Treasury Department and strike more favorable trade agreements with other countries.
Woldenberg said he’s putting “enormous resources” into shifting his company’s supply base but the process is time-consuming and uncertain.
“I think that our case raises uniquely important questions that this administration won’t accept unless the Supreme Court rules on them,” he said.
Based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, the family-owned company’s products include the Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register for $43.99 and Botley the Coding Robot for $57.99.
