Trump tells court his tariffs can’t be reviewed by judges

The filing doubles down on Trump’s use of the emergency act, citing his concern that U.S. trade deficits have compromised the nation’s 'military readiness' and 'national security posture.' Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/Postmedia files

Article content

Article content

Article content

The businesses are improperly questioning the veracity of President Donald Trump’s assertion of a national emergency, “inviting judicial second-guessing of the president’s judgment,” the Justice Department said in a filing late Tuesday in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Article content

Article content

Trump is attempting to stave off claims that his trade war is based on a false emergency and therefore illegal. The 78-year-old Republican issued the tariffs after asserting in an executive order that U.S. trade deficits had become a major threat to national security and military readiness.

Article content

Article content

“Congress designated itself — not the judiciary — as the body to supervise emergency declarations and the adequacy of the president’s response,” said the government.

Article content

The filing comes as Wall Street continues to reel from Trump’s levies as well as a series of delays and reversals. Supply disruptions are expected to hit American consumers in the coming months, particularly after the U.S. raised levies on China to 145 per cent.

Article content

Clash Ahead?

Article content

The suit is among several filed by conservative legal advocacy groups on behalf of small businesses. An injunction would be a major setback for one of Trump’s signature economic policies, and potentially trigger yet another clash between the executive and judicial branches.

Article content

Article content

The suit against Trump and his administration was filed earlier this month in response to his “Liberation Day” executive orders rolling out the tariffs. The businesses argue that his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs is unconstitutional and that the emergency he declared “is a figment of his own imagination.”

Article content

Article content

The filing doubles down on Trump’s use of the emergency act, citing his concern that U.S. trade deficits have compromised the nation’s “military readiness” and “national security posture.” Any court intervention on the matter would undermine the president’s ability to use “his foreign-affairs powers to protect the United States’ economy and national security,” according to the filing.

Article content

Article content

The specialized trade court in New York has assigned the tariff challenge to a three-judge panel that includes one judge appointed by Trump, one by Barack Obama and one by Ronald Reagan. The panel last week refused a request by the five small businesses represented by the Liberty Justice Centre to immediately halt Trump’s tariffs, saying the companies failed to show the levies would cause them “immediate and irreparable harm.”