3-Judge Trade Court Panel to Hear AIIS Challenge to Section 232 Tariffs

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade will hear the challenge to the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs that was filed by AIIS.

In March, President Donald Trump announced that he was imposing 25 percent tariffs on steel imports from most countries in the name of national security. AIIS and two of its members are arguing that the administration’s authority to implement those tariffs under Section 232 is unconstitutional.

“In essence, in section 232 Congress has transferred to the President the ability to make the essential policy choices that the Constitution assigns to Congress and Congress is required to retain under our Constitution and the principles of separation of powers that animate it,” the plaintiffs stated in a court filing.

While, normally, a single judge presides over Court of International Trade cases, AIIS requested a three-judge panel. In September, the court’s chief judge, who is authorized to appoint such panels in cases involving constitutionality or having other “broad and significant implications,” granted the request.

Forbes examined the case in an Oct. 9 Q&A with one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Donald Cameron, Jr.:

“These steel tariffs have had a devastating effect on our clients, who are importers and distributors of steel products,” Cameron said. “They also harm workers at these firms, the longshoremen, stevedores, etc. who work at the ports, the truckers and rail workers who transport these goods and so on. … What is at stake in this case is whether our constitutional system, with its separation of powers and checks and balances, permits Congress to give the president this kind of unfettered authority to impose tariffs and other restrictions on imports that can affect essentially the entire U.S. economy to the detriment of American businesses and workers.”

 Courtesy: AIIS