WASHINGTON, D.C. – New tariffs imposed on nearly all imports into the U.S. since April were struck down Wednesday by three federal judges in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City.
The judges ruled in favor of Oregon and 11 other states in their suit, as well as several businesses who filed a tandem suit, and against Trump, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its leader, Kristi Noem, and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and its leader, Peter Flores over the tariffs.
The attorneys general argued in State of Oregon et al v. Donald J. Trump et al, filed April 23, that Trump was misusing a 1977 law and falsely claiming an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States to justify the costly tariffs on nearly all imported goods.
The judges said that law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, “does not authorize worldwide and retaliatory tariffs,” and that, “because of the Constitution’s express allocation of the tariff power to Congress, we do not read IEEPA to delegate an unbounded tariff authority to the President.”
Lawyers for Trump and the federal agencies insinuated at a May 21 hearing they would appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if things did not go their way at the international trade court.
Trump lawyers argued the Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president broad latitude on financial regulation and foreign policy in the event of a national emergency, would address the threat of fentanyl getting into the country and the U.S.’s trade deficit. The attorneys general argued Congress, not the president, has the sole authority to set tariff policy and that the tariffs Trump imposed had no relationship to the threats he said he wanted to confront.
Oregon and the other attorneys general — from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Vermont — specifically challenged four of Trump’s executive orders since April that have added fluctuating tariffs on most imports from China, Mexico and Canada and a 10% retaliatory tariff on most all other goods imported from other countries to the U.S. The order from the international trade court Wednesday stops these new tariffs and more that Trump planned to impose by July 9.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a news release Wednesday that the ruling is a victory for people beyond Oregon and the states that sued.
“President Trump’s sweeping tariffs were unlawful, reckless, and economically devastating. They triggered retaliatory measures, inflated prices on essential goods, and placed an unfair burden on American families, small businesses and manufacturers,” Rayfield said. “We brought this case because the Constitution doesn’t give any president unchecked authority to upend the economy.”
This story first appeared on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
