[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
2 small businesses sue over Trump’s new tariffs
U.S. imposed new Section 301 tariffs to replace expiring Section 122 levies
Key Takeaways:
- Two small businesses sued the Trump administration in the U.S. Court of International Trade, challenging new global tariffs imposed under Section 301.
- The tariffs of 10% to 12.5% were introduced after courts blocked earlier Trump tariff programs under IEEPA and challenged Section 122 duties.
- The lawsuit argues Section 301 requires country-specific findings and seeks to block tariffs that plaintiffs say unlawfully replicate invalidated measures.
The Trump administration is facing a fresh legal challenge to the president’s latest round of global tariffs that took effect July 24.
Two small businesses filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade accusing President Donald Trump and U.S. officials of unlawfully using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to replace earlier tariffs struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
On July 23, the Trump administration announced the U.S. will collect duties of between 10% and 12.5% on imports from most major trading partners. The move under Section 301 followed a probe into the alleged failure of around 60 economies to prevent forced labor in their supply chains to the detriment of American workers.
Trump aims to rebuild a tariff wall that was struck down in February when the Supreme Court ruled his global levies, issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, were illegal.
Trump subsequently imposed 10% global tariffs, under Section 122 of the Trade Act, that were ruled illegal by a trade court but allowed to stay in effect during an appeal. The Section 122 tariffs expire July 24.
Section 301 allows the U.S. Trade Representative, under the direction of the president, to impose tariffs in response to other nations’ trade measures it deems discriminatory to American businesses or in violation of U.S. rights under international trade agreements.
Spokespersons for the trade representative, White House and Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lawyers for the small businesses that sued July 24 alleged in the complaint that the new tariffs failed to reflect the “country-specific inquiry” that Congress expected when it adopted Section 301.
“It is not a free-standing authorization to tax substantially all imports from substantially all trading partners at rates selected to replicate the invalidated IEEPA tariff regime,” they wrote.
The case is Burlap and Barrel Inc. v. Greer, 26-cv-3345, US Court of International Trade (New York).
