Trump’s tariffs are back in court — again

Here we go again: President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs are back under the legal microscope.

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel at the US Court of International Trade is set to hear arguments in a case that could determine whether the president can use a 1970s trade law to impose tariffs on nearly everything the United States imports.

Since late July, goods from 80 countries, including China, India and Japan, have faced tariff rates ranging from 10% to 12.5%. The administration imposed the duties after determining that those countries had allegedly failed to address the use of forced labor in producing goods shipped to the US. The US Trade Representative recommended the tariffs as a remedy, with higher rates applying to countries deemed the “worst offenders.”

The rollout of these tariffs coincided with the lapse of a separate 10% near-blanket duty Trump had imposed earlier in the year under a different legal authority. The Supreme Court later ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority, which immediately invalidated the tariffs and triggered $168 billion worth of refunds for importers.

The complaint, filed by the Liberty Justice Center, a libertarian public-interest law firm that successfully won the landmark Supreme Court tariff case, argues that the administration is moving to preserve a predetermined global tariff policy. That, they argue, is an improper use of the trade law commonly referred to as Section 301.

Administration officials, meanwhile, told reporters previously that the timing was to “avoid complexity” that would come from layering the new levies on top of the then-10% duties.

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Author of America’s tariff statute: Trump’s tariffs are illegal

“The real message here that everyone needs to take away is the president is going to always use the tools at his disposal to achieve his trade policy objectives,” administration officials said on a briefing call with reporters shortly before the 10%-15% duties took effect.

While Wednesday’s arguments may offer clues about how the judges view the case, a ruling could still take weeks — if not months. Either side could then appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which could also decide whether to pause enforcement of the tariffs while the case proceeds.

The fight could eventually reach the Supreme Court, extending the legal battle for several months more.

By the time it concludes, Trump may have already enacted a slew of new duties. Already, there are several pending Section 301 investigations that are widely expected to lead to higher border taxes. Beyond that, Trump has also tapped in to a Great Depression-era trade law to impose 50% duties on $20 billion worth of goods from Canada and issued widespread import bans from there.

又来了：唐纳德·特朗普总统的全球性关税政策再次受到法律审查。

周三，美国国际贸易法院的三名法官将听取一起案件的辩论，该案件可能会决定总统是否可以利用 20 世纪 70 年代的一项贸易法对美国进口的几乎所有商品征收关税。

自7月下旬以来，包括中国、印度和日本在内的80个国家的商品被加征了10%至12.5%不等的关税。美国政府认定这些国家未能解决出口商品生产过程中使用强迫劳动的问题，因此征收了这些关税。美国贸易代表建议采取加征关税的补救措施，并对被认定为“最严重违规者”的国家适用更高的税率。

这些关税的推出恰逢特朗普此前依据另一项法律授权征收的、税率接近全面征收的10%关税到期。最高法院后来裁定特朗普越权，立即宣布该关税无效，并触发了向进口商退还1680亿美元关税的程序。

这份由自由正义中心（一家曾成功赢得具有里程碑意义的最高法院关税案的自由意志主义公益律师事务所）提交的诉状指出，政府正试图维护一项预先设定的全球关税政策。他们认为，这是对通常被称为“第301条款”的贸易法的滥用。

与此同时，政府官员此前告诉记者，选择这个时间点是为了“避免”在当时 10% 的关税基础上叠加新税项所带来的复杂性。

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美国关税法制定者：特朗普的关税政策非法

“大家需要明白的真正信息是，总统将始终利用一切可用的手段来实现他的贸易政策目标，”政府官员在10%-15%关税生效前不久与记者举行的简报电话会议上表示。

虽然周三的辩论或许能让我们了解法官们对案件的看法，但最终裁决可能仍需数周甚至数月才能出炉。双方均可就此裁决向美国联邦巡回上诉法院提起上诉，该法院也有权决定是否在案件审理期间暂停执行关税。

这场争斗最终可能会闹到最高法院，使这场法律战再延长数月。

等到调查结束，特朗普可能已经颁布了一系列新的关税措施。目前，已有数项301条款调查正在进行中，外界普遍预期这些调查将导致边境税上涨。除此之外，特朗普还援引了一项大萧条时期的贸易法，对价值200亿美元的加拿大商品征收50%的关税，并对来自加拿大的商品实施了大范围的进口禁令。