NCLA launches first class-action lawsuit against Trump’s unlawful emergency tariff orders

On the eve of Supreme Court oral argument tomorrow over the Trump Administration’s orders imposing tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed the first class-action complaint challenging those same executive actions, likewise arguing that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. The proposed class representatives in this lawsuit are Connecticut’s Smirk & Dagger Games, New York’s B. Stuyvesant Champagne, and the New York-based manufacturer of mannequins and storefront displays Leo D. Bernstein & Sons. They purchase items that cannot be reasonably sourced in the United States, importing from areas including China and the European Union. NCLA will ask the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to certify one or more class(es), declare the IEEPA tariffs unlawful and unconstitutional, and set aside the orders that imposed them, liberating these businesses and all similarly situated companies and individuals nationwide from having to pay them any longer.

Under art. 1, § 8 of the Constitution, Congress has sole authority to control tariffs, which it has done by passing detailed tariff statutes. As NCLA has argued since filing Simplified v. Trump, the very first lawsuit brought against the IEEPA emergency tariff orders, IEEPA never mentions tariffs, so it cannot possibly authorize the President to enact them—even in declared emergencies. The Trump Administration’s attempt to use IEEPA this way not only violates the text of the law, but it also invites application of the Supreme Court’s Major Questions Doctrine, which tells courts not to discern policies of “vast economic and political significance” in a law lacking explicit congressional authorization. If IEEPA were held to permit these tariffs, then the statute would run afoul of the nondelegation doctrine because it lacks an “intelligible principle” to limit or guide the president’s tariff decisions.

NCLA released the following statements: “Congress alone has the authority to control tariffs, and it did not and could not give the President the unbridled authority he has now claimed. These unlawful tariff actions have harmed thousands if not millions of American businesses and individuals. This class-action suit will protect Americans from being forced to pay unconstitutional tariffs now and in the future.” — Kara Rollins, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA

“This case asks whether the President may tax millions of Americans without a constitutional or statutory grant of authority. The answer is plainly no. Congress—not the president—has the power to impose tariffs.” — Christian Clase, Constitutional Litigation Fellow, NCLA

“NCLA believes the Supreme Court is on the verge of setting aside the so-called Liberation Day tariffs. When it does so, it may find a way to provide nationwide relief. But in case it does not, NCLA will stand ready with this class-action lawsuit to make sure everyone in the class who pays tariffs can obtain relief as soon as possible.” — Mark Chenoweth, President, NCLA