Blackfeet Indians File Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Canada Tariffs
I missed this when the case was first filed. But two members of the Blackfeet Nation, a Native American tribe, have filed a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s Canada tariffs on constitutional grounds, and also because they violate tribal treaty rights:
Two citizens of the Blackfeet Nation on April 4 filed a lawsuit against the federal government, alleging tariffs the Trump administration is imposing on Canada violate the U.S. Constitution and tribal treaty rights.
State Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, and Jonathan St. Goddard, a rancher on the Blackfeet Reservation, named the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Kristi Noem and the United States of America in the suit, which was filed in Montana federal district court. The plaintiffs are represented by Monica Tranel, who ran as a Democrat for Montana’s western congressional seat in 2022 and 2024….
This lawsuit specifically pertains to several Executive Orders, including one Feb. 1 that expanded an emergency declaration to include “the flow of illicit drugs” across the U.S.-Canada border and one April 2 that announced global “reciprocal tariffs.” The lawsuit also regards two Feb. 10 proclamations that impose tariffs on steel and aluminum products.
Plaintiffs allege the orders violate the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress, not the president, the power to regulate commerce. Trump declared several national emergencies (due to U.S. trade deficits and to the flow of illegal drugs over the Northern border) and invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to issue tariffs. But the two Blackfeet citizens say the president had no legal basis to do so, arguing the IEEPA statute does not include the power to tariff….
Complai
Article from Reason.com
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