(Jurist News)—A legal advocacy group filed a lawsuit with the US Court of International Trade on Monday to block President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on foreign trading partners, arguing that the president overstepped his authority.
Advocacy group Liberty Justice Center is representing five companies that purchase and import goods from countries that are being directly affected by the tariffs. The companies each assert that important aspects of their business will be affected if the tariffs are allowed to stay in place. The lawsuit claims that the president has overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“Congress knows how to grant the President authority to impose or adjust tariffs when it wishes to, and it has done so in more limited statutes contained in Title 19 of the United States Code. But the President has decided to avoid the limits on his authority imposed by Congress by finding a new never-before-seen authority under IEEPA… But even if IEEPA did grant the President the broad, standardless discretion he claims—which it does not—and had done so clearly enough to satisfy the major questions doctrine—which it has not—it would be an unlawful delegation of legislative authority without any intelligible governing principle.”
Among other relief requested, the plaintiffs are seeking to:
Enjoin the operation of the April 2, 2025, Executive Order entitled “Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits” [and] [e]njoin the operation of the April 9, 2025, Executive Order entitled “Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates To Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation And Alignment”.
Liberty Justice Center’s senior council, Jeffrey Schwab clarified in a statement that Congress has the power to set tax rates, including tariffs, not the president.