The Case Challenges Executive Authority to Effectively ‘Tax’ Consumers
The U.S. Court of International Trade may not be the most high-profile court in the United States, but it is getting more attention and cases this year under the Trump Administration’s tariff regime. In one case, filed this month on behalf of five business relying on imports, the Liberty Justice Center is arguing that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority by imposing duties on imports.
Now, a broad coalition of former senators, judges, lawyers, and attorneys general agrees and is joining the lawsuit.
Tariff Update: Since he announced a wave of tariffs against U.S. trading partners, Trump has postponed most hikes while raising the U.S. tariff on goods from China to 145 percent. Meanwhile, China retaliated with a 125 percent tariff on U.S. products.
Case Details
On April 14, 2025, the Liberty Justice Center, a conservative legal group headquartered in Austin, Texas, filed the lawsuit on behalf of five small businesses that would be harmed by higher costs of imported goods. They include V.O.S. Selections, a wine importer, Terry Precision Cycling LLC, a cycling apparel company, FishUSA, a retailer, MicroKits, and Genova Pipe.
Specifically, the case, 2025-cv-00066-GSK-TMR-JAR, challenges Trump’s authority to impose emergency-related tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) and sections of the Trade Act of 1974.
Plaintiffs filed a 25-page document calling for a Temporary Restraining Order and a Motion for Preliminary Injunction and/or Summary Judgment for Permanent Injunction against the administration.
Challenges to Executive Authority
The case argues that trade deficits are not an emergency and do not “constitute an “unusual and extraordinary threat.” Furthermore, it is the right of Congress, not the White House, to make decisions about taxes and duties on goods and services.
Coalition of Legal Experts, Former Lawmakers Join
The lawsuit gains support from a broad coalition of former lawmakers and legal experts who filed an Amici Curiae last week.
They include former Senator and Governor George Allen, Professor Steven Calabresi, attorney Joshua Claybourn, former Senator and Amb. to the United Nations John Danforth, Professor Richard Epstein, former Senator and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Professor and former dean Harold Hongju Koh, Professor Gerard Magliocca, Professor and former Judge Michael McConnell, former Attorney General and Judge Michael Mukasey, Professor Alan Sykes, former Judge John Daniel Tinder, former White House Counsel Peter Wallison, former State Department Counselor Philip Zelikow.
“The laws cited permit limited and targeted actions under narrow conditions. They do not authorize sweeping economic realignment. They do not permit unilateral taxation of vast sectors of the U.S. economy,” the Amici Curiae filed on April 23 said.
For Trump’s executive orders on tariffs and trade, see the USTR.
