DC Circuit Sets Sept. 30 Oral Argument for IEEPA Tariff Suit
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on July 1 scheduled oral argument for the lawsuit challenging the legality of the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for Sept. 30, nearly two months after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will hear oral argument in a parallel IEEPA tariff suit. The court said the composition of the panel hearing the argument is usually revealed 30 days before the oral argument date (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, D.C. Cir. # 25-5202).
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Judges Gregory Katsas, Neomi Rao and Justin Walker have thus-far ruled on procedural issues in the appeal, though it's unclear if these same judges will hear the full case.
The suit is led by two importers, Learning Resources and Hand2Mind, which are arguing, among other things, that IEEPA doesn't provide for tariffs. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found for the importers, ruling that IEEPA categorically doesn't confer tariff-setting authority to the president (see 2505290037).
While the U.S. appealed this ruling, Learning Resources and Hand2Mind petitioned the Supreme Court to review their case prior to the D.C. Circuit hearing the case, though the high court declined to consider the petition on an expedited basis (see 2506170073). A spat followed before the D.C. Circuit on whether to tie the briefing schedule to that of the Federal Circuit in its IEEPA case, which the D.C. Circuit declined to do.