(The Atlantic)—Wednesday’s unanimous ruling against President Donald Trump’s expansive “Liberation Day” tariffs by the United States Court of International Trade wasn’t merely a victory for the businesses and consumers opposed to the policy. The decision was much more than that: a victory for the constitutional system of separation of powers—and, even more broadly, for the rule of law in America.
The decision came in a case filed by the Liberty Justice Center and me on behalf of five American businesses harmed by the tariffs, and it also covers a similar case filed by 12 states led by Oregon. Our suit challenged Trump’s attempted use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to impose 10 percent Liberation Day tariffs on imports from almost every nation in the world, plus additional “reciprocal” tariffs on many more countries. We argue that the IEEPA doesn’t grant Trump the virtually unlimited tariff authority he claims, and that, if it did, it would be unconstitutional…
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Author: Ilya Somin