Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977, Trump imposed baseline duties of 10% on imports from nearly every trading partner in April, with escalations up to 50% on select nations like China, Brazil, and the European Union. Lower courts, including the U.S. Court of International Trade and the Federal Circuit, already struck down the tariffs in unanimous and 7-4 decisions, respectively, ruling that IEEPA’s vague language on “regulating” imports doesn’t extend to broad taxation. Enacted to rein in the expansive Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 — which President Richard Nixon once used for a 10% universal tariff — IEEPA empowers the president to “investigate, regulate, or prohibit” imports during a declared emergency stemming from an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security, foreign policy, or the economy.
Author: MacDailyNews
Published at: 2025-11-06 22:53:19
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