A steel trade group argued that the statute under which the US Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports were issued was unconstitutional, according to oral arguments during a US Court of International Trade (CIT) hearing on Wednesday December 19.
The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) alleged that the statute violates the constitutional prohibition against Congress delegating its legislative powers to the president, and pointed to the lack of guidelines by which the United States' president should implement that authority.The trade group in late June filed a lawsuit disputing the constitutionality of the steel and aluminium tariffs implemented under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The CIT accepted the AIIS' request for a three-judge panel in mid-September; the three judges overseeing the case are Claire R. Kelly, Jennifer Choe-Groves and Gary S. Katzmann. President Donald Trump in March announced that he would impose tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminium imports from most countries into the United States; certain countries have since been granted exemptions from those duties, with some of those receiving quotas on shipments instead."This improper delegation of legislative power to the president means...