Florida Court Sends IEEPA Tariffs Case to CIT

The District Court for Northern Florida on May 20 transferred a case challenging tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the Court of International Trade. Judge T. Kent Wetherell said Yoshida International v. U.S. controls the question of whether IEEPA allows for the imposition of tariffs. In that case, an appellate court said the Trading With the Enemy Act, IEEPA's predecessor, includes the power to impose tariffs, since the power to "regulate" necessarily includes the power to impose duties. Wetherell said he sees "no reason why" the Yoshida court's reasoning "would not apply to IEEPA because the operative language of IEEPA is identical to the operative language in TWEA." However, the judge said his holding shouldn't affect the merits of the case, adding that it will be up to the trade court to determine what effect the "jurisdictional determination that IEEPA" provides for tariffs "impacts the merits of Plaintiffs' claims."