Overview

• President Trump enacted the 'Liberation Day' tariffs on April 2, imposing duties on nearly all imports and citing a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
• The Liberty Justice Center and legal scholar Eugene Volokh filed a lawsuit on April 18 on behalf of five American import businesses harmed by the tariffs.
• The lawsuit contends that Article I of the Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the authority to regulate foreign commerce and levy tariffs.
• Critics argue that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs and that trade deficits do not meet the law’s definition of an 'unusual and extraordinary' emergency.
• The case invokes the major questions doctrine and nondelegation principles, asserting that such expansive executive action requires clear congressional approval.