Court Rejects Challenge to Trump’s Tariffs

March 28, 2019

The Court of International Trade rejected an effort to overturn President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on steel imports on Monday. The American Institute for International Steel, a trade association, sued the administration claiming it exceeded its authority when the President claimed that the tariff was justified under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which involves protecting “national security.” According to New York Law Journal, the group argued the tariffs violated the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers by delegating congressional powers to the president without reason.

The organization said that Section 232 gave the president a limitless grant of power to determine when executive actions are necessary for national security purposes, without any review.

"Identifying the line between regulation of trade in furtherance of national security and an impermissible encroachment into the role of Congress could be elusive in some cases because judicial review would allow neither an inquiry into the president’s motives nor a review of his fact-finding," a three-judge panel said, according to the Washington Examiner.

According to the institute’s website, the lawsuit is “an ongoing legal battle that may well end up before the Supreme Court.”

Source: The New York Law Journal & The Washington Examiner