A federal appeals #court is hearing arguments Thursday in a case that could kneecap Trump's global tariff regime.
#Trump has held up the case as a life-or-death moment for his #trade agenda. The plaintiffs in the case say the president has usurped the power of #Congress to set #tariffs.
…
#law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers #NealKatyal
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/31/trump-trade-tariffs-lawsuit-hearing.html
#NealKatyal, the lawyer who is arguing against the #Trump admin, said earlier Thursday, "The president is saying he on his own with his say so can impose these tariffs."
"And that is something no president in 200 years has ever thought. The tariff power goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War &… the protests in the Boston Tea Party & the like," #Katyal said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"And our #Constitution was very clear in saying…there's one branch that has the #power to tariff & it isn't the president & it isn't the #courts. It's the #Congress of the #UnitedStates," Katyal said.
The case, known as V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, centers on whether #Trump exceeded his #authority by invoking an emergency-powers #law to impose a slew of far-reaching tariff policies.
#Trump had cited that statute, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act [#IEEPA], to justify his massive "reciprocal" tariff plan, which set a nearly global 10% baseline duty while slapping higher rates on dozens of individual countries.
Trump rolled out that policy in early April, but after markets convulsed in response he quickly delayed the higher #tariffs from taking effect.
#law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers #Congress #NealKatyal
Many of those #tariffs — including revised rates for countries that have struck agreements with the US or have been targeted by one of Trump's recent #trade letters — are set to snap back into place Friday.
#Trump also invoked #IEEPA as his authority to impose tariffs on #Canada, #Mexico & #China over alleged cross-border threats.
#law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers #Congress #NealKatyal
The last court to hear the case, the #US Court of International Trade [#CIT], struck down both #Trump's reciprocal & "trafficking"-related #tariffs in late May.
But the Federal Circuit quickly paused that decision, keeping Trump's tariffs in effect while the legal challenge plays out.
There are numerous other active lawsuits challenging Trump's tariffs, but V.O.S. is the furthest along & its outcome could dictate how the other cases fare.
Appellate court #judges expressed broad skepticism over Trump’s legal rationale for his most expansive round of #tariffs.
Members of the 11-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington appeared unconvinced by the #Trump admin’s insistence that the president could impose tariffs without approval by #Congress, & it hammered its invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act [#IEEPA] to do so.
#law #Constitution
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-court-lawsuit-trade-4c289f51008f6a3a02939caa73ab5404
Appellate court judges are expressing skepticism over President Donald Trump’s legal rationale for his broadest batch of tariffs. An 11-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit repeatedly questioned the administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify its so-called “Liberation Day” round of tariffs in April. The Trump administration contends the U.S. trade deficit qualifies as a national emergency under the 1977 law. An attorney for the administration acknowledged no president has used the law in the same way but contended it was nonetheless lawful.
“#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
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.
“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
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
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.
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
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.
Nonilex