(Tag 24)—A legal advocacy group is suing the Trump administration over its “Liberation Day” tariffs, claiming that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority by launching mass levies against trading partners.
The Liberty Justice Center (LJC) launched the lawsuit on behalf of five US businesses that import goods from targeted countries and asked the US Court of International Trade (USCIT) to block Trump’s tariffs.
Businesses represented by LJC include a New York wine and spirits importer, a musical instruments manufacturer, a sporting and e-commerce business, a pipe maker, and an electric toy designer.
According to the suit, Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify the tariffs on the basis of a national emergency was unlawful as a trade deficit in goods “is neither an emergency nor an unusual or extraordinary threat.”
“Trade deficits have existed for decades, and do not constitute a national emergency or threat to security,” the LJC said in a press release announcing the lawsuit.
“Moreover, the Administration imposed tariffs even on countries with which the U.S. does not have a trade deficit, further undermining the administration’s justification.”
The IEEPA is a 1977 law that allows the president to impose economic sanctions on countries that pose an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the US. It has never before been used to justify tariffs.
“IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose across-the-board tariffs – it does not even authorize tariffs at all,” LJC claims.
Co-counsel to LJC and law professor at George Mason University Ilya Somin was particularly brutal about the tariffs and voiced support for the lawsuit.