NCLA Files Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s IEEPA Tariffs Against China
Yesterday, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a prominent conservative public interest group, filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s IEEPA tariffs against China. To avoid confusion, I should not these are not the much more sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs enacted against some 180 nations (also using the IEEPA), which the Liberty Justice Center and I plan to challenge in court. The NCLA lawsuit focuses on the 10% tariff against Chinese imports adopted in February under the theory that it is somehow necessary to combat fentanyl smuggling. Still, their arguments (especially on nondelegation and the major questions doctrine) overlap in some ways with those I have been promoting since February, when Trump first announced IEEPA tariffs against China, Mexico, and Canada in February.
Here is NCLA’s description of their case:
Representing  Simplified, a Pensacola-based company owned by entrepreneur Emily Ley, NCLA challenges President Donald Trump’s unlawful attempt to require Americans to pay a heavy tariff on all products they import from China. President Trump imposed the tariff by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). However, this statute authorizes specific emergency actions like imposing sanctions or freezing assets to protect the United States from foreign threats. It does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. In its nearly 50-year history, no other president—including President Trump in his first term—has
Article from Reason.com
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