A conservative legal organization has filed suit against the Trump administration, alleging that President Donald Trump misused emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs without congressional approval. The lawsuit, spearheaded by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), claims Trump violated the Constitution by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to bypass Congress and slap tariffs on China and other nations.

Filed Thursday, the lawsuit argues that Trump’s invocation of IEEPA to justify a slate of tariffs—most recently a 34% levy on Chinese goods—exceeds the law’s original scope and undermines the separation of powers. The legal challenge comes as Trump’s economic strategy increasingly leans on trade enforcement, culminating in his recent “Liberation Day” declaration, during which he announced reciprocal tariffs on dozens of foreign nations.

“In the IEEPA’s almost 50-year history, no previous president has used it to impose tariffs,” the NCLA’s lawsuit states. “Which is not surprising, since the statute does not even mention tariffs, nor does it say anything else suggesting it authorizes presidents to tax American citizens.”

At the center of the lawsuit is a Florida-based small business named Simplified, which claims it has suffered “economic and competitive harm” due to inflated prices on Chinese imports. The company argues that the rising costs directly result from Trump’s unilateral tariff actions, which it believes were unconstitutional.

The IEEPA, passed in 1977, was designed to give presidents the ability to respond swiftly to foreign threats—but not to restructure global trade policy. While Trump has cited the flow of fentanyl from China and mass job losses as reasons to use emergency powers, critics contend that the rationale is too broad and vague.

“President Trump has broad authority to impose tariffs to address issues of national emergency, such as the opioid pandemic,” said White House spokesman Harrison Fields in a statement. “The Trump administration looks forward to victory in court.”

NCLA senior litigation counsel Andrew Morris pushed back, saying Trump’s strategy has gone too far. “By invoking emergency power to impose an across-the-board tariff on imports from China that the statute does not authorize, President Trump has misused that power, usurped Congress’s right to control tariffs, and upset the Constitution’s separation of powers.”

NCLA is not alone in raising alarm. Multiple bipartisan lawmakers have introduced legislation in recent weeks designed to rein in executive authority over trade, including the Trade Review Act of 2025. That bill, sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), would require Congress to approve new tariffs and allow lawmakers to terminate them through a joint resolution.

Meanwhile, Trump is unapologetic. At his Liberation Day announcement in the White House Rose Garden, he thundered that the days of America being “pillaged and plundered” were over. “We are not going to let other countries steal from the American worker anymore,” he said. “For decades, our country has been looted… We are now fighting back.”

The administration distributed a packet to reporters and guests showing tariff rates imposed on the U.S. by other nations and the new reciprocal rates being implemented. “Each country is charged about 50% of what they charge the U.S.,” one official explained.

China responded swiftly, issuing its own 34% retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods Friday morning, fueling fears of a full-scale trade war. American businesses—particularly importers—now find themselves caught in the crossfire as the legal and economic battle intensifies.

The lawsuit marks the first major conservative legal challenge to Trump’s trade authority during his second term, signaling that even within right-leaning legal circles, there’s concern about executive overreach. Whether the courts agree remains to be seen, but the case could reshape the future boundaries of presidential power in the realm of economic warfare.

With both praise and criticism pouring in from across the political spectrum, one thing is clear: Trump’s tariffs—and the legal backlash—have thrown a political grenade into the heart of U.S. trade policy.