Plaintiffs said that no president has ever used the law to impose tariffs in the 50 years since it was passed. They also said that the trade deficit Trump talked about has been going on for almost 50 years, which they said goes against his claim that there is an “unusual and extraordinary” trade emergency.
Last year, all three judges on the U.S. Court of International Trade agreed to stop Trump’s tariffs from going into effect.
They said that as commander-in-chief, Trump does not have “unbounded authority” to impose tariffs under the emergency law.