The Trump administration was sued by a nonprofit civil rights group on April 3, with the organization saying that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority when he imposed tariffs on Chinese imports.
NCLA filed the lawsuit on behalf of Simplified, a Florida-based retailer that sells home management products and imports materials from China.
The lawsuit lists Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Pete Flores, and CBP as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, the IEEPA authorizes specific emergency actions—such as imposing sanctions or freezing assets—to protect the United States from foreign threats, but it does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.
“The Constitution assigns Congress exclusive power to impose tariffs and regulate foreign commerce,” the lawsuit states. “Presidents can impose tariffs only when Congress grants permission, which it has done in carefully drawn trade statutes.”
Typically, these statutes authorize tariffs only on industries or countries that meet “specified criteria,” and only under “specified conditions,” after following certain procedures, the lawsuit states. “Such statutes require advance investigations, detailed factual findings, and a close fit between the statutory authority and a tariff’s scope.”
In response to the lawsuit, the White House stated that the president has such power.
“President Trump has broad authority to impose tariffs to address issues of national emergency, such as the opioid pandemic,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told The Epoch Times. “The Trump Administration looks forward to victory in court.”
Trump has declared an emergency over China’s alleged role in facilitating the flow of illicit fentanyl into the United States, which he cited as one of the reasons for establishing the levies on Chinese goods.
The lawsuit argues his justification is a pretext for imposing tariffs with the goal of reducing U.S. trade deficits while boosting tax revenue.
“President Trump is attempting to bypass these constraints by invoking the IEEPA,” plaintiffs write in the lawsuit. “But in the IEEPA’s almost 50-year history, no previous president has used it to impose tariffs. Which is not surprising, since the statute does not even mention tariffs, nor does it say anything else suggesting it authorizes presidents to tax American citizens.”
According to the legal filing, Trump’s tariffs on China will force Simplified to make higher tariff payments, driving up its costs and thus prices for its customers, while simultaneously reducing its profits.
The lawsuit asks the court to block the tariffs from being implemented and enforced and to undo Trump’s changes to the U.S. tariff schedule.
Trump announced on April 2 that goods imported from China, as well as Hong Kong and Macau, will be hit with a 34 percent duty under his new tariff plan. That is on top of the 20 percent tariff he imposed on China in February, bringing the total new levies to 54 percent.
“This will be indeed the golden age of America. It’s coming back, we’re going to come back very strongly,” Trump said.
“China firmly rejects this and will do what is necessary to defend our legitimate rights and interests,” the spokesperson said.
