The Liberty Justice Center has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s executive authority to unilaterally impose the “Liberation Day” tariffs, arguing that the tariffs are devastating small businesses and exceed the President’s constitutional powers.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade, targets the administration’s global 10% tariff on nearly all imports, along with additional, higher tariffs on select countries, which the suit claims are based on “dubious calculations of foreign trade barriers.”
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The administration justified the tariffs, including those on Mexico, Canada, and China, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). However, the Liberty Justice Center argues that the IEEPA only allows for emergency economic powers in response to an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security, foreign policy, or the U.S. economy originating outside the United States. The lawsuit contends that a trade deficit, the administration’s cited justification, does not constitute such a threat. Furthermore, the suit points out that tariffs were imposed on countries with which the U.S. does not have a trade deficit, undermining the administration’s rationale.
“No one person should have the power to impose taxes that have such vast global economic consequences,” said Jeffrey Schwab, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “The Constitution gives the power to set tax rates—including tariffs—to Congress, not the President.”
Ilya Somin, co-counsel and law professor at Scalia Law School, George Mason University, added, “If starting the biggest trade war since the Great Depression based on a law that doesn’t even mention tariffs is not an unconstitutional usurpation of legislative power, I don’t know what is.”
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The lawsuit is filed on behalf of five owner-operated businesses that have experienced significant harm due to the tariffs:
- VOS Selections: A New York-based wine, spirits, and sake importer, facing severe financial strain due to the sudden and unpredictable tariffs.
- FishUSA, Inc.: An e-commerce retailer and wholesaler of sportfishing tackle, struggling with supply chain disruptions and increased costs.
- Genova Pipe: A Salt Lake City-based manufacturer of ABS pipe, experiencing increased raw material costs and hindered export capabilities.
- MicroKits LLC: A Charlottesville, Virginia, business producing educational electronic kits and musical instruments, facing crushing costs on imported components.
- Terry Precision Cycling: A Vermont-based women’s cycling apparel brand, already burdened by previous tariffs and now facing potential collapse.
The business owners expressed deep concern over the tariffs’ impact on their operations and livelihoods. Victor Owen Schwartz of VOS Selections stated, “We are required to post our prices with the State Liquor Authority a full month in advance, so we’re locked into pricing decisions that don’t account for these sudden, unpredictable tariffs. This is devastating to our ability to operate.”
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Dan Pastore, President of FishUSA, Inc., highlighted the disruption to business growth, saying, “Instead of focusing on growing our business, creating more jobs in our region, and developing new products that our customers want, we are spending countless hours trying to navigate the tariff chaos that the President is causing.”
The lawsuit, V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, filed on Monday, April 14, 2025, seeks to overturn the “Liberation Day” tariffs, arguing they are unconstitutional and economically damaging.
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