Nov. 5 (UPI) — Oral arguments started Wednesday in a Supreme Court case challenging whether President Donald Trump has the authority to levy tariffs and whether his actions have violated federal law.
The Trump administration has been accused by educational toy manufacturer Learning Resources Inc. of misusing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on nearly all countries, along with higher tariffs on specific goods and nations.
Oral arguments in the case started at 10 a.m. EDT and were expected to run for roughly 80 minutes before the discussion portion of the hearing.
U.S. Solicitor General John D. Sauer has been given 40 minutes to present the Trump administrations’ case, and Neal K. Katyal will represent several plaintiffs in a 40-minute presentation.
Katyal represents a group of small businesses that sued the administration over the tariffs policy and then consolidated their case with the Learning Resources Inc. lawsuit, The New York Times reported.
In its lawsuit, filed in April, the company argued that Trump’s illegal use of the IEEPA, usurping the constitutional authority of Congress to impose tariffs, has resulted in cratering profits that have forced it to lay employees and increase prices.
The IEEPA was passed in 1977 to allow a president to use executive authority to sanction foreign terrorists or hostile nations that pose a threat to the United States.
Learning Resources Inc. noted in its lawsuit that “the statue does not mention tariffs or duties, and in the five decades and eight administrations since its enactment, no president besides Preisdent Trump has ever invoked IEEPA to impose a duty or tariff.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is attending the hearing at the request of Trump, according to CNN, earlier this week said his presence at the hearing is “to emphasize that this is an economic emergency.”
The law, according to the administration, gives the president the power to “regulate” imports during an emergency, which it has interpreted as including the use of tariffs.
According to The New York Times, Trump has used IEEPA to impose tariffs on roughly 29% of all U.S. imports, affecting more than $300 billion of imports.
If the court sides with the Trump administration, business leaders have raised concern that he will continue to jostle tariff rates up and down as part of his methods for negotiating trade deals.
If the court sides with the plaintiffs, the Trump administration has said it would rely on other laws to impose tariffs, although the laws in some cases include limit,s and it is possible that tariffs already collected may have to be refunded, CNN reported.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.