Supreme Court Declines to Intervene in Legal Challenge to Trump Tariffs

The United States Supreme Court has declined to intervene in a challenge to President Trump's authority to enact steel and aluminum tariffs for stated reasons of national security. The president has claimed authority to implement tariffs pursuant to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended. A challenge to the president's section 232 authority was initially brought before the United States Court of International Trade (CIT) by the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) and others (collectively, “Petitioners”). The CIT upheld the constitutionality of the tariffs, and Petitioners had asked the Supreme Court to take the case directly, thereby bypassing the interim step of having the case heard before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On June 24, 2019, the Supreme Court announced that it would not bypass the Federal Circuit.