Conservative Lawyers Allege Trump’s Tariffs Exceed His Authority

Forbes

President Donald Trump has levied an additional 125% tariff on Chinese goods and 10% baseline tariffs on other foreign imports—even as he paused higher tariffs on most foreign goods—and their fate could play out in court, as conservative lawyers have alleged the president is exceeding his authority by enacting tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).  Read the full story on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/04/10/can-trumps-tariffs-be-undone-in-court-why-even-some-conservatives-argue-he-exceeded-authority/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00The legality of President Donald Trump's tariffs could be challenged in court as some

00:04conservative lawyers argue that the president has exceeded his authority by using the International

00:09Emergency Economic Powers Act to enact them.

00:12Wednesday, Trump imposed a 125% tariff on Chinese goods and a 10% baseline tariff on

00:19other foreign imports, although he has paused further increases.

00:23Trump has used the IEEPA as the legal justification for his tariffs as the president first levied

00:29tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico before issuing, and then paring back, more sweeping

00:34tariffs on most foreign goods.

00:37The IEEPA does not explicitly mention tariffs, which led the nonpartisan but historically

00:42conservative New Civil Liberties Alliance to sue Trump on April 3rd.

00:47The lawsuit challenges Trump's previous tariffs on China, contending that he exceeded his

00:52authority by using the IEEPA to justify these tariffs.

00:55And CLA has not yet responded to a request for comment on whether it will expand its lawsuit

01:00to include Trump's more recent round of tariffs, which have escalated tariffs on Chinese goods

01:05to 125%.

01:06It's also still unclear when any other lawsuit against Trump's global tariffs could be filed.

01:12ABC reported it could be filed as soon as Friday, though that was before the president

01:17unexpectedly halted his full tariff agenda and just imposed the lower 10% rate on most countries.

01:23It won't be clear what else the courts could undo in terms of Trump's tariffs until more

01:27lawsuits are filed.

01:29The economist notes while companies or other affected parties may be able to challenge tariffs

01:33that directly impact them in court, a ruling in those companies' favor likely wouldn't

01:38unilaterally undo Trump's entire suite of tariffs.

01:42While the lawsuit is focused on Trump's earlier tariffs on China versus the more sweeping tariffs

01:46he announced more recently, it could preview more legal challenges as Trump's new tariffs

01:51take effect.

01:54For more on this story, check out Allison Durkee's article linked in the description.

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