Trump’s administration sued over Chinese import tariffs

New Civil Liberties Alliance, NCLA, a conservative legal group, on Thursday, sued the administration of the US President Donald Trump seeking to block tariffs on Chinese imports, saying the US president overstepped his authority.

According to the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, Trump 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.

At the time of filing this report, the White House representatives has not commented on the issue.

NCLA filed the lawsuit on behalf of Simplified, a Florida-based retailer of home management products.

DAILY POST reports that 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 urged a judge to block implementation and enforcement of the tariffs and undo Trump's changes to the US tariff schedule.

It added that presidents can only impose tariffs with Congress' permission and under complex trade statutes spelling out how and when they can be authorized.

“Such statutes require advance investigations, detailed factual findings, and a close fit between the statutory authority and a tariff’s scope,” the lawsuit stipulated.

It further said that the law Trump invoked has never been used to impose tariffs and only allows presidents to take actions that are necessary to address a specific emergency.