President Donald Trump of the United States of America has been dragged to court over his reciprocal tariffs announcement.
A conservative legal group, New Civil Liberties Alliance, NCLA, has filed what it called the first lawsuit seeking to block the President’s tariffs on Chinese imports.
The group said the US president overstepped his authority, according to a Reuters report.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Florida, wherein the group alleged that the President lacked the legal authority to impose the sweeping tariffs unveiled on Wednesday as well as duties authorized on February 1 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“By invoking emergency power to impose an across-the-board tariff on imports from China that the statute does not authorize, President Trump has misused that power, usurped Congress’s right to control tariffs, and upset the Constitution’s separation of powers,”; NCLA senior litigation counsel Andrew Morris said in a statement.
NCLA's lawsuit was on behalf of Simplified, a Florida-based retailer of home management products.
DAILY POST reported that President Trump on Wednesday announced that China would be hit with a 34% tariff, on top of the 20% he imposed earlier this year, bringing the total new levies to 54%.
The lawsuit asks a judge to block implementation and enforcement of the tariffs and undo Trump’s changes to the US tariff schedule.
According to the lawsuit, presidents can only impose tariffs with Congress’ permission and under complex trade statutes spelling out how and when they can be authorized.
