Trump's tariffs 'triggered chaos,' should be declared unconstitutional, manufacturers say [View all]

Source: Law & Crime

Aug 5th, 2025, 11:25 am


A conservative legal group suing the Trump administration in Texas over the president's unilaterally imposed tariff system have asked a federal judge to declare the levies "unlawful as a matter of law" and grant their request for summary judgment, effectively ending the case in favor of the plaintiffs.

In a 22-page motion filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) asserted the authority to impose such tariffs lies exclusively with Congress and that President Donald Trump exceeded the power of the presidency by implementing they tariff system through a series of executive orders that have "triggered chaos in financial markets."

"The President has asserted authority to impose new tariffs on any imports, from any country, in any amount he chooses," the motion states. "The President issues, postpones, and rescinds the Executive Orders seemingly at whim. These Executive Orders have upended the tariff system that Congress designed and enacted over a course of decades. But the President lacks the authority to issue any of them."

According to the group, the president has attempted to bypass mandatory congressional authorization and instead unilaterally imposed the levies by invoking an obscure emergency power — specifically, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) — in a manner that has never been done since that statute was passed nearly a half-century ago.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/the-president-lacks-the-authority-trumps-tariffs-triggered-chaos-should-be-declared-unconstitutional-manufacturers-say/