Tag: International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)

By: James R. Holbein, Of Counsel, Braumiller Law Group

In the final analysis, this case stands as one of the most important separation of powers decisions in the economic domain in U.S. history. It clarifies that tariffs are a form of taxation reserved to Congress, embeds the major questions doctrine in trade law, and reasserts the structural boundary between legislative and executive authority.

By: Brandon French, Senior Associate, Braumiller Law Group

Hundreds of importers have rushed to file lawsuits challenging tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as they await a Supreme Court ruling on the statute’s overall legality.

By: James R. Holbein, Of Counsel, Braumiller Law Group

On May 28, 2025, a three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled in two cases (VOS Selections, Inc. v. Trump and the State of Oregon v. Trump) that the Presidential actions taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. §§ 1701–1707) to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China for illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling are unconstitutional. The CIT said that the tariff actions did not directly address the declared emergency and were not delegated by Congress to the Executive Branch and therefore exceed the President’s tariff setting authority under the Constitution.

By: James R. Holbein, Of Counsel

Several lawsuits challenging the legal validity of the tariff actions taken by President Trump since he took office on January 20, 2025, are in process of moving through the federal courts. They raise a variety of important jurisdictional and constitutional questions and seem poised to lead to challenges in federal circuit courts and the Supreme Court.