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.
They said that letting Trump use IEEPA to keep his universal tariffs would give the executive branch a lot more power at the expense of the other branches of government.
They said that as commander-in-chief, Trump does not have “unbounded authority” to impose tariffs under the emergency law.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit also rejected the administration’s use of IEEPA.
