Washington, Oct 1:
The US Court of International Trade on Wednesday began hearing a challenge to President Donald Trump’s new tariffs imposed on goods from 60 trading partners over alleged failures to prevent imports involving forced labour.
The tariffs, ranging from 10 to 12.5 per cent, cover more than 99 per cent of US imports, although several categories of goods are exempt.
Four small businesses and 25 states led by Democrats have challenged the measures, arguing that the administration exceeded presidential authority and failed to make the country-specific findings required under the law.
The case follows a US Supreme Court ruling in February that rejected most of Trump’s earlier broad tariff programme, finding that the emergency economic powers used by the administration did not authorise the president to impose tariffs unilaterally on trading partners.
The Trump administration subsequently turned to another legal authority to impose the new tariffs. Officials argue that investigations were conducted into the trading practices of the 60 countries and that the duties are legally justified.
The trade court is expected to issue a written ruling after hearing the arguments.