This Obscure New York Court Is Set to Decide Fate of Trump’s Tariffs

The Court of International Trade this week will consider the legality of president’s ‘Liberation Day’ levies

By James Fanelli of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The Trump administration’s global tariffs face their first major legal test this week when a little-known Manhattan court considers one of the president’s most sweeping assertions of executive power.

A three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade will hear arguments Tuesday on whether to halt the levies, which have unleashed a trade war with the world and threaten to upend the global economy."

"has nationwide jurisdiction over tariff and trade disputes"

[there is] "in a lawsuit brought by New York-based wine importer V.O.S. Selections and four other small businesses who say President Trump doesn’t have the authority to impose the tariffs."

[the firm's] "lawyers say IEEPA doesn’t give the president the power to impose tariffs, which is a responsibility for Congress. “IEEPA does not even mention tariffs,” they wrote in a court brief. Also no emergency exists, they say, as U.S. trade deficits have persisted for decades without causing economic harm."

"The plaintiffs argue that Congress can’t just delegate its legislative authority to the president."

"The Justice Department argues the president has historically conducted foreign affairs and ensured national security through the regulation of trade. In approving IEEPA, Congress validly delegated authority to the president to regulate imports during emergencies, the department says."

"The government also argued that Trump’s declaration of an emergency was a political question that can’t be second-guessed by the judiciary."

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