In a press release announcing the lawsuit, the New Civil Liberties Alliance characterized the tariffs as “unlawful” and said that their imposition would come at a high cost to American taxpayers.
A conservative legal group has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that the president exceeded his authority in imposing high tariffs on all Chinese imports.
According to FOX Business, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of the nonprofit New Civil Liberties Alliance in federal court on Thursday. It claims that Trump broadly lacks the legal authority to enact sweeping tariffs with congressional consent.
The lawsuit also alleges that the Trump administration has violated duties stipulated by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“Congress has sole authority to control tariffs, which it has done by passing detailed tariff statutes. The President cannot bypass those statutes by invoking ‘emergency’ authority in another statute that does not mention tariffs,” the New Civil Liberties Alliance said in a press release. “His attempt to use the IEEPA this way not only violates the law as written, but it also invites application of the Supreme Court’s Major Questions Doctrine, which tells courts not to discern policies of ‘vast economic and political significance’ in a law without explicit congressional authorization.”
In a press release announcing the lawsuit, the New Civil Liberties Alliance characterized the tariffs as “unlawful” and said that their imposition would come at a high cost to American taxpayers.
“In its nearly 50-year history, no other president—including President Trump in his first term—has ever tried to use the IEEPA to impose tariffs,” the group said in a statement.
In response to the Alliance’s claims, a White House spokesperson told FOX Business that “President Trump has broad authority to impose tariffs to address issues of national emergency, such as the opioid pandemic” and “the Trump Administration looks forward to victory in court.”
However, attorneys for the New Civil Liberties Alliance say that Trump “misused” emergency powers and, in effect, “usurped Congress’s right to control tariffs, and upset the Constitution’s separation of powers.”
The lawsuit asks a judge to issue an injunction against the implementation and enforcement of tariffs; it also asks the court to undo Trump’s alterations to the United States’ tariff schedule.
Among other claims, the New Civil Liberties Alliance says that the president can only impose tariffs with the consent of Congress—and, even then, must act in accordance with a multitude of trade statutes governing the use and application of tariffs.
“Such statutes require advance investigations, detailed factual findings, and a close fit between the statutory authority and a tariff’s scope,” the lawsuit alleges.
The Trump administration has justified its use of emergency powers by charging China with complicity in the ongoing opioid crisis.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance says that it “does not quibble” with the administration’s declaration of emergency powers but “it does take issue with [Trump’s] decision to impose tariffs in response, without legal authority to do so.”
Sources
Conservative legal group sues Trump admin over Chinese import tariffs: ‘Congress never authorized’
Lawsuit Challenges Trump’s Legal Rationale for Tariffs on China
Trump Already Hit With Lawsuit Over Tariffs—From Unexpected Group
Join the conversation!