In a motion filed yesterday, the Trump Administration indicated their intent to appeal the US Court of International Trade's order requiring payment of refunds to all those businesses who paid illegal tariffs imposed by Trump using the the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA). The IEEPA tariffs were invalidated by the Supreme Court, in a case I helped bring and litigate (along with the Liberty Justice Center, and others).
When Judge Eaton of the Court of International Trade (CIT) issued his order in March, I thought the administration might appeal on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the Supreme Court's ill-advised strictures against universal injunctions in Trump v. CASA, Inc. (decided last year). But, in the intervening nearly three-month period, the administration did not appeal, and indeed even set up a tariff refund system that has begun issuing payments to businesses victimized by the illegal tariffs. Victor Schwartz, owner of V.O.S. Selections, the lead client in our case, is one of those who have already gotten a refund.
