Overview
- Hours after the new duties took effect July 25, two groups of small businesses filed separate suits in the U.S. Court of International Trade challenging the levies as unlawful.
- Plaintiffs named include Burlap and Barrel, Collective Horology and Learning Resources, and they are represented by the Liberty Justice Center, which says USTR failed to provide a reasoned, record-based justification and effectively replaced a prior global tariff program.
- The administration invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act to impose 10% to 12.5% tariffs aimed at countries accused of failing to prevent goods made with forced labor, a statute that traditionally requires country-specific findings.
- Coverage differs on the tariffs’ scope, with reports citing roughly 60 trading partners in one account and more than 80 in another, and legal analysts warn courts may be more deferential to Section 301 than to the earlier authority that was struck down.
- The outcome matters for small firms’ costs and consumer prices and could set a legal precedent that either limits or affirms the administration’s ability to use Section 301 as a broad tool while litigation proceeds.