US trade court to weigh challenge to Trump's forced labor tariffs
SPY•The US Court of International Trade will hear a challenge to tariffs imposed in July on goods from 60 trading partners. The tariffs range from 10% to 12.5% and cover more than 99% of US imports.
1. Court hears tariff challenge
Four small businesses and 25 Democratic-led states argue that the tariffs exceed President Donald Trump's authority. A three-judge panel will hear the case on Wednesday and is expected to issue a written ruling later.
2. Dispute over legal authority
The administration says it investigated whether each of the 60 trading partners failed to prevent imports of goods produced with forced labor and concluded tariffs were warranted. The lawsuits argue the tariffs require country-specific findings about unfair trade practices and say the forced-labor rationale is a pretext to revive broad tariff powers.
3. Tariffs followed court ruling
After the Supreme Court ruled on February 20 that Trump could not use emergency economic powers to impose tariffs unilaterally on all US trading partners, he imposed a temporary 10% global tariff under another law. After those tariffs expired, he invoked a different legal authority for the forced-labor tariffs now being challenged.
