Everybody with a brain knows that tariffs are taxes. And they know that tariffs imposed on goods imported to the United States are largely paid by American businesses and consumers. The big question is whether tariffs unilaterally imposed by President Donald Trump under creative interpretations of emergency executive powers will withstand a federal court challenge. So far, the signs are promising for those hoping that a law intended to rein in the power of the presidency will not be read to permit the president to set trade policy of his own accord.
As CBS News reported this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. heard "oral arguments on Thursday in V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, a case brought by five small business owners and 12 states who allege they have been harmed by President Trump's import taxes. V.O.S., the lead plaintiff in the case, is a New-York based wine importer."
Representing the plaintiffs is the free-market Liberty Justice Center, along with co-counsel Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University's Scalia Law School. The plaintiffs are challenging the Trump administration's invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the basis for the "Liberation Day" tariffs on much of the world as well as related tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China.
