Class Action Lawsuit Against IEEPA Tariffs Filed at US District Court in DC
The first class-action lawsuit against the president’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs was filed Nov. 4 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Smirk & Dagger Games v. Donald J. Trump, D.D.C. # 1:25-03857).
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The action was led by class representatives Smirk & Dagger Games, B. Stuyvesant Champagne and Bernstein Display. They said it was brought on behalf of two plaintiff classes: small businesses that import from China, and small businesses that import from the EU. The plaintiffs are represented by lawyers with the New Civil Liberties Alliance.
Each class “likely includes thousands of members,” they said, though they called the classes’ exact sizes “unknown.”
First, the plaintiffs’ four-count complaint echoed other opposition to the IEEPA tariffs (see 2505280068) in citing the major questions doctrine, saying the emergency powers law doesn’t “clearly” grant the tariff power to the executive. If IEEPA does grant Trump the power to impose tariffs, the plaintiffs continued, the law itself is too broad and violates the nondelegation doctrine.
The plaintiffs also said that the tariffs don’t comport with the IEEPA itself. The law only authorizes executive restriction of imports when “necessary” to address a declared national emergency, they said. Trump declared an emergency based on trade deficits and opioid smuggling, but hasn’t demonstrated that the tariffs are necessary to address either, they said.
And they argued, as others have, that the executive orders imposing the tariffs violated the Administrative Procedure Act by illegally modifying the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.
In a statement released the day the case was filed, NCLA President Mark Chenoweth said: “NCLA believes the Supreme Court is on the verge of setting aside the so-called Liberation Day tariffs. When it does so, it may find a way to provide nationwide relief. But in case it does not, NCLA will stand ready with this class-action lawsuit to make sure everyone in the class who pays tariffs can obtain relief as soon as possible.”