The case is one of at least 7 lawsuits charging that #Trump overstepped his #authority through the use of #tariffs on other nations. The plaintiffs include 12 US #states & 5 #businesses, including a wine importer, a company selling pipes & plumbing goods, & a maker of fishing gear.

The US #Constitution gives the #Congress the authority to impose taxes — including tariffs — but lawmakers have gradually ceded power over #trade policy to Trump.

#law #SeparationOfPowers

The case centers on Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” #tariffs of April 2 that imposed new levies on nearly every country. But it doesn’t cover other tariffs, including those on foreign #steel, #aluminum & #autos, nor ones imposed on #China during Trump’s first term, & continued by President Joe #Biden.

#Trump #tariffs #law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers #Congress #NealKatyal

In filings in the case, the #Trump admin insists that “a #NationalEmergency exists” necessitating its #trade policy. A 3-judge panel of the US Court of International Trade, a specialized federal court in New York, was unconvinced however, ruling in May that Trump exceeded his powers.

The issue now rests with the appeals #judges.

The challenge strikes at just one batch of import taxes from an admin that has unleashed a bevy of them & could be poised to unveil more on Friday.

#tariffs #law

But an attorney for the plaintiffs, #NealKatyal, characterized #Trump’s maneuver as a “breathtaking” #power grab that amounted to saying “the president can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, for as long as he wants so long as he declares an #emergency.”

No ruling was issued from the bench. Regardless of what decision the #judges’ deliberations bring, the case is widely expected to reach #SCOTUS.

#Trump #tariffs #law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers #Congress

“If the president says there’s a problem with our military readiness,” Chief Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore posited, “& he puts a 20% tax on coffee, that doesn’t seem to necessarily deal with (it).”

Schumate said #Congress’ passage of #IEEPA gave the president “broad & flexible” #power to respond to an #emergency, but that “the president is not asking for unbounded authority.”

#Trump #tariffs #law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers #Congress #NealKatyal

The 1977 #law, signed by President Jimmy Carter, allows the president to seize assets & block transactions during a #NationalEmergency. It was first used during the Iran hostage crisis & has since been invoked for a range of global unrest, from the 9/11 attacks to the Syrian civil war.

In sharp exchanges w/Schumate, appellate #judges questioned that contention, asking whether the law extended to #tariffs at all &, if so, whether the levies matched the threat the admin identified.

#Trump

“#IEEPA doesn’t even mention the word ‘#tariffs’ anywhere,” Circuit Judge Jimmie Reyna said, in a sign of the panel’s incredulity to a government attorney’s arguments.

Brett Schumate, the attorney representing the #Trump admin, acknowledged in the 99-min hearing “no president has ever read IEEPA this way” but contended it was nonetheless lawful.

#law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers #Congress #NealKatyal