A lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s widespread tariffs is moving through the U.S. Court of International Trade, creating a major legal test of the president’s executive power. The central issue in the dispute is whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) from 1977 gives the president the authority to impose tariffs on a global scale without approval from Congress.
According to Forbes, five U.S. businesses that depend on imported goods that are not easily available domestically filed the lawsuit. The lawsuits claimed that Trump’s actions go beyond his constitutional authority. The plaintiffs argue that Trump’s declaration of a national emergency, which was used to justify invoking IEEPA to enforce the tariffs, has no real basis.
