The U.S. International Trade Court on April 22 denied a request by five U.S. small businesses to block President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on nearly all countries.
Liberty Justice Center filed the request on April 18 on behalf of the five owner-operated businesses that rely on imports, seeking a temporary restraining order to block the tariffs, which they alleged were unlawful.
In a brief two-page order, the court’s three-judge panel declined to issue a restraining order on the grounds that the plaintiffs had not shown they would face irreparable harm if the tariffs were implemented.
The order states that a hearing on all then-pending motions related to the legal challenge is scheduled for May 13.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Liberty Justice Center and the White House for comment but received no response by publication time.
Trump announced a minimum 10 percent tariff on nearly all countries on April 2, along with steeper levies on about 60 nations identified as the “worst offenders” in trade imbalances with the United States, as part of an effort to curb unfair trade practices.
The Trump administration subsequently granted a 90-day pause to most countries to allow for negotiations, except for China, which faced tariffs of up to 245 percent “as a result of its retaliatory actions.”
In an April 18 court filing, the plaintiffs argued that the tariffs would harm their “reputation and goodwill to customers” by forcing them to raise prices, as their businesses rely on importing products from multiple countries.
One of the plaintiffs, MicroKits, an educational electronic kits maker, said that it may have to pause operations “in about seven weeks” once it runs out of parts, which it normally imports from China.
Other plaintiffs include alcohol company VOS Selections, sportfishing e-commerce business FishUSA, pipe maker Genova Pipe, and cycling apparel brand Terry Precision Cycling.
“These tariffs are devastating small businesses,” Jeff Schwab, a Liberty Justice Center lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “We are asking the court to act swiftly to declare these tariffs unlawful and protect these businesses from further harm.”
Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which allows the president to regulate international transactions in response to “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security, in introducing the tariffs.
The plaintiffs argued that the Trump administration’s justification for invoking the law does not meet the requirement of constituting an emergency or an extraordinary threat.
“In reality, Congress has not delegated any such power. IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose unilateral worldwide tariffs on any country he chooses at any rate he chooses,” they stated.
The lawsuit argued that the requirement for presidential action outlined in the IEEPA is not satisfied, as the United States’ trade deficit in goods with other countries does not constitute an emergency; this deficit has persisted for decades without resulting in economic harm, it said.
A key aim of Trump’s tariff policy is to reset global trade and encourage foreign governments to negotiate bilateral agreements that are more fair to the United States. Despite dozens of countries seeking bilateral deals with the United States, China had refused to negotiate and instead raised its tariffs on American goods to 125 percent.
In an April 2 executive order, Trump said that the tariffs are necessary to bolster national security with regard to supply chains, noting that U.S. trading partners have engaged in “economic policies that suppress domestic wages and consumption, as indicated by large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits.”
“Large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits have led to the hollowing out of our manufacturing base; inhibited our ability to scale advanced domestic manufacturing capacity; undermined critical supply chains; and rendered our defense-industrial base dependent on foreign adversaries,” he stated.
Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
