US Opposes Injunction Against IEEPA Tariffs While 9th Cir. Mulls Transfer Order
The U.S. on May 12 opposed four members of the Blackfeet Nation tribe's bid for an injunction against tariffs imposed on Canada under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, pending the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit's resolution of the tribal members' appeal of a Montana district court's order transferring the case to the Court of International Trade (Susan Webber v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 9th Cir. # 25-2717).
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The government argued that the Montana court's decision to send the case to CIT isn't appealable, since transfer orders are not final or "appealable collateral" orders. In addition, the U.S. said that even if the decision was appealable, the Montana court had it correct that the trade court has exclusive jurisdiction to hear the case.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana last month transferred the case to the trade court (see 2504250063). The court held that two cases establishing the trade court's exclusive jurisdiction to hear cases arising out of the Trading With the Enemy Act, IEEPA's predecessor, confirm CIT's exclusive jurisdiction to hear cases involving IEEPA, given that IEEPA has the "same operative language as that contained in the TWEA."
The Blackfeet Nation members appealed the order, then filed for an injunction at the 9th Circuit against the collection of the tariffs until the court reviewed the transfer order.
In response, the U.S. said the transfer order isn't final and thus isn't appealable. "Litigation on the merits (including any threshold defenses to plaintiffs’ claims) will proceed in the Trade Court," the brief said. As the statute explains, "a case transferred under its provisions 'shall proceed as if it had been filed in' the transferee court."
The government added that the transfer order "is not an appealable collateral order, either." Transfer orders are reviewable by the transferee court, "as every circuit to address this question has concluded."
The U.S. also said even if "some doubt remained about the Trade Court's jurisdiction, this Court's precedent is clear that in situations where a matter may be within the Trade Court’s exclusive jurisdiction, 'the prudent thing to do' is precisely what the district court did here: 'transfer the case to the [Trade Court] so that [it] can determine the question of its own jurisdiction.'"