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1 1 (November 27, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbbxt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Expired Authority?: Federal Court Suggests Some Limits to the President's Authority to Impose Tariffs November 27, 2019 In response to perceived unfair trade practices of other countries, the Trump Administration has imposed tariffs and other trade restrictions on billions of dollars of imported products using authority Congress delegated to the executive branch in various provisions of federal law. To justify the trade measures, the Administration has cited national security concerns, injury to competing domestic industries, and allegedly unfair trade practices of particular countries (e.g., China's practices with respect to intellectual property rights). Some industry groups and individual companies have challenged these tariff actions on constitutional and statutory grounds in U.S. courts but, until recently, federal courts have uniformly rejected these challenges. (This Sidebar does not discuss the challenges to certain tariffs currently pending before the World Trade Organization (WTO) or other international bodies.) A November 15, 2019 decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT), however, marks a departure from this trend in the case law, which could have broader implications for the scope of the President's trade powers. In 71anspaicic Steel LLC v United States, a U.S. company sought a partial refund of duties it paid on certain steel imports from Turkey. The imports were subject to tariffs the President imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. In a decision denying the United States' motion to dismiss the company's complaint, the CIT indicated that the President's power to impose tariffs under Section 232(b), while broad, is not unlimited. Specifically, the court suggested that the President must closely adhere to the procedural requirements of the statute when exercising such authority. This decision, which this Sidebar explores in more detail, could have implications for future tariff actions under Section 232 and similar statutes granting the President power over foreign commerce. Section 232 Trade Measures As discussed in this CRS Report, Section 232 authorizes the President to impose restrictions on certain imports based on the U.S. Department of Commerce's (Commerce's) affirmative determination that the product under investigation is being imported into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security. The Act establishes deadlines that Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10372 CRS Legal Sidabar Prepared for Members and C om mritees o; C onqgress ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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