No president should have power to pull dormant statute off the shelf: Liberty Justice Center CEO
Gellert Global Group, a New Jersey-based food importer, has commenced a legal challenge before the US Court of International Trade in New York against the Trump administration’s most recent tariffs on imports from Canada, Reuters reported.
Gellert pays the 50 percent US tariffs on the Canadian cheeses it imports. Meanwhile, the Canadian retaliatory tariffs affect the US-made cheeses that Gellert’s Canadian division sells in Canada.
The Liberty Justice Center, a US-based nonprofit public interest litigation firm, brought the lawsuit on Gellert’s behalf. According to Sara Albrecht, the Liberty Justice Center’s chairman and chief executive officer, this proceeding is about the presidency rather than the president.
“No president should have the power to pull a dormant statute off the shelf and use it to impose sweeping tariffs or import bans without the limits Congress required,” Albrecht said in a press release.
Legal arguments
Through the lawsuit, Gellert alleged that:
- Congress superseded s. 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 with s. 301 of the Trade Act of 1974
- The Trump administration went beyond its statutory authority and harmed US businesses, their suppliers, and their customers
- The US administration breached s. 338’s 30-day waiting period
- The Canadian policies identified by the US administration did not warrant imposing such wide-ranging tariffs
“Congress already gave the executive branch a tool for responding to unfair foreign trade practices: Section 301, which requires an investigation, public comment and other safeguards,” said Jeffrey M. Schwab, the Liberty Justice Center’s senior counsel and litigation director, in the press release. “The administration cannot skip those protections by reaching for a 1930 statute that no president had ever used to impose a tariff.”
“We have challenged these tariffs under [the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)], Section 122, Section 301 and now Section 338 for the same reason: the Constitution gives tariff power to Congress,” Albrecht added. “The executive branch cannot keep moving the same policy from one statute to another and pretend the limits disappear.”
Relief sought
The legal challenge seeks to:
- Declare the tariffs unlawful
- Prevent their collection
- Obtain refunds for importers, plus interest
Context of court proceedings
In the summer, US President Donald Trump set 50 percent tariffs on various Canadian imports. These duties responded to what the US administration characterized as Canada’s discrimination against American-made cars, alcohol, and dairy products.
According to Reuters, the current case is the fourth court proceeding against a sweeping tariff policy within Trump’s second presidential term.
More international law news on tariffs
In July, The Associated Press reported that Learning Resources, an Illinois-based educational toy company, was returning to court to challenge new tariffs imposed by Trump.
NPR had reported that Trump had invoked the 1930 US law to justify enforcing a 50 percent tariff on Canadian goods.
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