Trump tariffs lawsuit seeks to block new duties on 60 trade partners

A Trump tariffs lawsuit landed in the Court of International Trade in New York on Friday, less than 24 hours after the administration put new duties in place against 60 U.S. trade partners.

The case was brought by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of two small businesses: Burlap & Barrel, a New York-based online spice seller, and Collective Horology, a California retailer that the legal group says supports independent watchmakers.

The lawsuit asks the trade court to stop the federal government from enforcing or collecting the new duties imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. It also seeks refunds for any duties the court finds were unlawfully collected under the action.

What is the Trump tariffs lawsuit about?

The lawsuit challenges the administration’s use of Section 301, a trade law tool that allows the U.S. to respond to certain unfair trade practices after investigation. Liberty Justice Center says the U.S. Trade Representative did not make the country-specific findings required before imposing broad duties across dozens of different economies.

In a statement, Liberty Justice Center said the complaint accuses the USTR of acting “arbitrarily and capriciously” by applying near-uniform tariffs to 60 economies without a record-based explanation tying the duties to the practices the agency identified.

The group said the case does not challenge efforts to fight forced labor. It said the lawsuit targets what it calls sweeping tariffs imposed without meeting Section 301’s specific requirements.

The new duties replaced a temporary 10% global tariff that expired at midnight. The administration announced tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% on 60 economies, with exceptions for some foods and fuels, and exclusions for automobiles and some metals.

The USTR said it acted after months of investigations into trading partners. According to the agency, those investigations found that the 60 economies had not imposed and effectively enforced bans on imports made with forced labor.

Section 301 was not struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year. Liberty Justice Center previously challenged Trump tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and won a major Supreme Court ruling against the government.

Jeffrey Schwab, the Liberty Justice Center’s director of litigation, said in a statement that this is the third time the administration has tried to put its global tariff policy in place without following statutory limits. He said Section 301 is not a broad authorization to tax nearly all imports from nearly all countries at set rates.

Several major trading partners pushed back against the administration’s forced-labor accusations. European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho told reporters that the EU disagreed with the premise of the investigation and rejected the idea that it contributes to the global forced-labor problem.

Brazil’s government said in a news release that the USTR had used a human rights issue to accuse 59 countries and the European Union of unfair practices. A Japanese government spokesperson called the new duties “regrettable” and said Japan’s economy operates in line with international rules.

NBC News reported that the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.