That law was designed for economic emergencies, presumably involving national security. Needless to say, the existence of a trade deficit is not an emergency, notwithstanding Trump’s economic illiteracy on the issue.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that some top-notch libertarians launched a legal challenge against Trump.
The great news is that they won yesterday in a case decided by the US Court of International Trade.
The top lawyer in the effort has been Ilya Somin, a libertarian law professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law.
He summarized what he did and how he won in a column for Reason. Here are some excerpts.
The US Court of International Trade just issued a unanimous ruling in the case against Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs filed by Liberty Justice Center and myself on behalf of five US businesses harmed by the tariffs. …All of Trump’s tariffs adopted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) are invalidated as beyond the scope of executive power, and their implementation blocked by a permanent injunction. In addition to striking down the “Liberation Day” tariffs challenged in our case (what the opinion refers to as the “Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariffs”), the court also ruled against the fentanyl-related tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China. …the panel include judges appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents, including one (Judge Reif) appointed by Trump, one appointed by Reagan (Judge Restani), and one by Obama (Judge Katzmann). …From the very beginning, I have contended that the virtually limitless nature of the authority claimed by Trump is a key reason why courts must strike down the tariffs. …The Court also rejected the government’s claim that president has unreviewable authority to determine whether there is a “national emergency” and “unusual and extraordinary threat” justifying the invocation of IEEPA. …the bottom line is a major victory in the legal battle against these harmful and illegal tariffs.
The Liberty Justice Center released a statement about the victory.
Here are some of the key passages.
…a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) declared the Trump administration’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs unlawful. The Liberty Justice Center welcomes the CIT’s decision in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, its lawsuit challenging the Liberation Day tariffs on behalf of five small businesses. The CIT’s decision held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not confer to the President unlimited unilateral authority to impose tariffs and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder. The CIT held that if IEEPA did give the President the unilateral authority to impose tariffs on any country, at any rate, at any time, as the President claims, then it would likely violate the Constitution’s separation of powers, which gives the tariff authority to Congress. Although Congress can delegate some limited authority to impose tariffs to the President, it must do so clearly and with some limitations.
I’ll add two comments.
First, all principled conservatives and Republicans should be cheering the decision.
Dan Mitchell is co-founder of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and Chairman of the Board. He is an expert in international tax competition and supply-side tax policy.
