Tariffs on steel will remain in place after the court declined to review an American Institute for International Steel case challenging the president’s constitutional authority.
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the American Institute for International Steel’s (AIIS) bid to overturn President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel imports, according to a decision released Monday by the court.
As a result, Section 232 tariffs on steel will remain in place.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will now hear AIIS’ appeal, the organization said in a press release Monday.
“It is rare for the Supreme Court to agree to hear a case before a ruling by the Court of Appeals,” AIIS said. “We continue to believe that we have a strong legal case that Section 232 is unconstitutional. Once the Federal Circuit has spoken, we expect that the losing party will ask the Supreme Court to review that decision.”
AIIS and two of its member companies — Sim-Tex LP of Waller, Texas, and Kurt Orban Partners LLC of Burlingame, Calif. — filed suit in June 2018 in the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) challenging the constitutionality of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, under which Trump imposed 25% tariffs on steel imports.
The Supreme Court’s decision follows AIIS’ appeal after the CIT in March ruled that it was unable to review the case on its merits, based on a 1976 Supreme Court decision.
The AIIS lawsuit sought a declaration that the statute is unconstitutional, as well as a court order preventing further enforcement of the 25% tariffs.
The plaintiffs alleged that Section 232 violates the constitutional prohibition against Congress delegating its legislative powers to the president.
