Trump administration sued over Chinese import tariffs
Lawsuit alleges that the US president improperly bypassed Congress by imposing tariffs
07:05
World leaders react to Trump’s new tariff blitz as global trade war escalates
New Civil Liberties Alliance, a conservative legal group, on Thursday filed what it said was the first lawsuit seeking to block Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports, saying the US president overstepped his authority.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, alleges that Trump lacked the legal authority to impose the sweeping tariffs unveiled on Wednesday as well as duties authorised on February 1 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“By invoking emergency power to impose an across-the-board tariff on imports from China that the statute does not authorise, President Trump has misused that power, usurped Congress’s right to control tariffs, and upset the Constitution’s separation of powers,” NCLA senior litigation counsel Andrew Morris said in a statement.
White House representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
NCLA filed the lawsuit on behalf of Simplified, a Florida-based retailer of home management products.
Trump on Wednesday announced that China would be hit with a 34 per cent tariff, on top of the 20 per cent he imposed earlier this year, bringing the total new levies to 54 per cent.