The Trump’s administration on Friday appealed the US Court of International Trade’s (CIT) ruling deeming his temporary global tariff unlawful to the Federal Circuit. In a divided opinion, the CIT deemed Trump’s Section 122 tariff unlawful because the narrow set of economic conditions required for the measure to be imposed were not met.
Bracewell’s Josh Zive told Law360 the government may have a better chance of earning a favorable ruling at the Federal Circuit than it did in its last attempt to defend the emergency duties, which were eventually struck down by the US Supreme Court.
Unlike the duties that were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a law that made no mention of the word “tariff,” Zive said, the temporary global tariff Trump imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act provides him explicit authority to impose those duties under certain economic conditions.
“I think it’s important for people to not group them together, because that difference really is important,” Zive said. “If there’s any room for deference, a strong advantage goes to the executive, and that’s a fundamentally different place than the IEEPA case.”
