Trump administration sued over Chinese import tariffs - Reuters

Lallalit Srijandorn FXStreet

New Civil Liberties Alliance, a conservative legal group, on Thursday filed what it said was the first lawsuit seeking to block US President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports, claiming that the president overstepped his authority, per Reuters.

Key quotes

The suit claims Trump exceeded his legal authority by imposing tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

It was filed in federal court in Florida and targets both the April 2 sweeping tariffs and those from February 1.

The NCLA argues Trump has misused emergency powers, violated the Constitution’s separation of powers, and overstepped Congress’s authority on tariff policy.

The lawsuit seeks a court order to block the tariffs’ enforcement and reverse changes to the U.S. tariff schedule.

The White House has not yet commented on the case.

Market reaction

At the time of press, the US Dollar Index was up 0.05% on the day at 102.01.

US-China Trade War FAQs

What does “trade war” mean?

Generally speaking, a trade war is an economic conflict between two or more countries due to extreme protectionism on one end. It implies the creation of trade barriers, such as tariffs, which result in counter-barriers, escalating import costs, and hence the cost of living.

What is the US-China trade war?

An economic conflict between the United States (US) and China began early in 2018, when President Donald Trump set trade barriers on China, claiming unfair commercial practices and intellectual property theft from the Asian giant. China took retaliatory action, imposing tariffs on multiple US goods, such as automobiles and soybeans. Tensions escalated until the two countries signed the US-China Phase One trade deal in January 2020. The agreement required structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime and pretended to restore stability and trust between the two nations. However, the Coronavirus pandemic took the focus out of the conflict. Yet, it is worth mentioning that President Joe Biden, who took office after Trump, kept tariffs in place and even added some additional levies.

Trade war 2.0

The return of Donald Trump to the White House as the 47th US President has sparked a fresh wave of tensions between the two countries. During the 2024 election campaign, Trump pledged to impose 60% tariffs on China once he returned to office, which he did on January 20, 2025. With Trump back, the US-China trade war is meant to resume where it was left, with tit-for-tat policies affecting the global economic landscape amid disruptions in global supply chains, resulting in a reduction in spending, particularly investment, and directly feeding into the Consumer Price Index inflation.

Author

Lallalit Srijandorn

FXStreet

Lallalit Srijandorn is a Parisian at heart. She has lived in France since 2019 and now becomes a digital entrepreneur based in Paris and Bangkok.

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