WASHINGTON — A panel of appeals court judges bombarded a Trump administration attorney Thursday with pointed questions about the president’s use of emergency powers to levy reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries — hours before “Liberation Day” duties were set to take effect.
The 11-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit put their most searching inquiries to Assistant US Attorney General Brett Shumate.
“The negative balance of goods is decades and decades old,” one jurist said before asking how the trade deficit could be considered a national emergency given its longstanding nature.
Shumate argued that the gap between US imports and exports had widened recently and further contended that Congress has given presidents broad leeway to wield tariffs.
He cited a 1975 appeals court decision that permitted former President Richard Nixon to slap a 10% charge on imported merchandise to combat inflation four years earlier.
The hearing on Thursday dealt with the Trump administration’s challenge to a May 28 decision by the US Court of International Trade quashing most of the president’s tariffs.
The appellate court promptly paused that decision to give time for it to hear the White House case.
At issue is Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs without congressional approval.
The act gives presidents sweeping powers to regulate international financial transactions and trade, including by imposing economic sanctions, but has never been used to tax imports.
“IEEPA doesn’t even say tariffs, doesn’t even mention them,” a judge griped at one point.
Shumate admitted that “no president has ever read IEEPA this way” but insisted Trump’s interpretation did not violate the law.
A coalition of 12 blue states and five small businesses brought the case, hoping to get the president’s tariff regime thrown out.
Neal Katyal, representing the businesses, warned of “staggering consequences” should the fees be allowed to go ahead.
“You just heard an argument … that our federal courts are powerless, that the president can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, for as long as he wants, so long as he declares an emergency,” chided Katyal, a former solicitor general under Barack Obama.
Heading into the court hearing, Trump stressed the high stakes and warned that if the courts side against him, it could be a death knell to his trade agenda.
“If our Country was not able to protect itself by using TARIFFS AGAINST TARIFFS, WE WOULD BE ‘DEAD,’ WITH NO CHANCE OF SURVIVAL OR SUCCESS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he dramatically warned on Truth Social.
It is unclear when the appellate court will rule on the case, V.O.S. Selections v. Trump.
Regardless of the outcome, the matter is likely to go to the Supreme Court.
Since unveiling a slate of customized tariff rates April 2, Trump has imposed a blanket 10% duty on all imports while negotiating framework deals with some of America’s biggest trading partners.
Those include the European Union, United Kingdom, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Cambodia and Thailand.
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