MMM Partner Will Planert was featured in Law360’s coverage of a significant hearing before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade, which is considering whether former President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose global tariffs exceeded constitutional limits.
The panel questioned whether the president’s determination of a national emergency under IEEPA is a political question that courts cannot review. The government argued that the statute gives the president broad discretion. Still, the judges pressed for a legal standard, at one point asking if even a peanut butter shortage could justify emergency tariffs under this logic.
Planert highlighted the core issue with the government’s position, noting that it creates a constitutional contradiction. While the administration claims IEEPA is a proper delegation of judicial authority to the executive branch, it simultaneously argues that the existence of a national emergency is entirely beyond judicial oversight.
Read more here.
