IEEPA Tariff Plaintiffs at CAFC Tap Neal Katyal to Argue Case
Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general in the Barack Obama administration, will argue against the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 31. The Liberty Justice Center, the conservative advocacy group that initially brought the case on behalf of various importers, tapped Katyal to argue the case at the Federal Circuit (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, Fed. Cir. # 25-1812).
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Katyal currently is a partner at Milbank, leading the firm's Supreme Court and appellate practices. Prior to joining the private sector, Katyal served as acting solicitor general of the U.S. from 2010 to 2011, a role in which he argued several cases on behalf of the U.S.
The case at the Federal Circuit concerns the legality of the reciprocal tariffs and tariffs imposed on China, Canada and Mexico to combat the flow of fentanyl issued under IEEPA by President Donald Trump. In May, the Court of International Trade vacated the executive orders implementing the duties, finding that IEEPA doesn't allow for tariffs to address balance-of-payments issues and that the fentanyl tariffs don't "deal with" the declared emergency, since IEEPA can't be used to create leverage over another country to address a problem (see 2505280068).
The U.S. recently filed its opening brief in the lawsuit, arguing that the trade court got its analysis wrong "at every turn" (see 2506250037). The government faulted the trade court for failing to discuss any of the factors for equitable relief before enjoining enforcement of the tariffs, which the government said requires remand all by itself. Oral argument will proceed on the trade court's decision on July 31 and will be heard by all active judges on the Federal Circuit.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of various importers and 12 U.S. states. Katyal will argue on behalf of the importers while the states will be represented by Benjamin Gutman, the solicitor general for the State of Oregon.