[Ilya Somin] Challenging Trump's Tariffs Under the Major Question Doctrine

The major questions doctrine entails that the Court "expect[s] Congress to speak clearly if it wishes to assign to an agency decisions of vast 'economic and political significance'," looking at the "the history and the breadth of the authority that [the Executive Branch agency] has asserted." The decision to impose the new tariffs on the United States's three largest trading partners constitutes a "transformative power expansion" and carries "vast economic and political significance" as it has significant breadth, national impact, and an effect on large segments of the economy. IEEPA sets forth a wide array of actions that the president can take following the formal declaration of a national emergency, including the power to "regulate … importation or exportation" of any property in which a foreign government or foreign national has any interest.

Author: Ilya Somin

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