Law Professor: Grounds Exist for Section 232 Case on Autos
Georgetown Law School Professor Jennifer Hillman, a former International Trade Commissioner and member of the World Trade Organization's appellate body, said she thinks there are grounds for a challenge to 25% tariffs on autos and auto parts, imposed on national security grounds under Section 232.
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Responding to an International Trade Today question at a tax conference June 27, Hillman said people are reluctant to take on the president, and the full effect of the action has been delayed since parts that qualify for USMCA don't yet get hit by the tariff.
But, she said, "I’ve actually been curious why there hasn’t been a challenge yet." Aside from the substantive issue of whether tariffs on cars and light trucks protect national security, Hillman said there's a procedural issue. The study, required under the statute, was in 2018, and no action was taken within the 90-day deadline.
Hillman said that the administration says they did take action by having the Commerce Department monitor imports, and the new tariffs are amending the action. But she said the Commerce Department monitors all imports.
"Part of me says people are a little bit chastened," she said, given that a previous case challenged the increase of steel tariffs on Turkey that came many months after the original Section 232 25% tariff on steel.
"The courts basically accepted the rationale," she said, which may give would-be plaintiffs pause.
"But if things get really, really bad," she said, in terms of the costs to companies of the tariffs, she thinks a suit may be brought.