Small businesses file lawsuits against Trump’s new sweeping tariffs - AP News

What the report says

The Associated Press reports that President Donald Trump’s latest tariff program is facing two new legal challenges from small businesses. The lawsuits were filed after the administration announced double-digit duties on imports from 60 trading partners, measures AP says were imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The administration has framed the tariffs as a response to countries’ failure to stop goods made with forced labor from entering supply chains.

One case was brought Friday in the U.S. Court of International Trade by educational toy company Learning Resources and other small firms. Learning Resources was also involved in an earlier tariff case that prevailed at the Supreme Court. A second case was filed by Burlap and Barrel, a New York spice company, and Collective Horology, a watch retailer based in Ventura, California. Those companies are represented by the Liberty Justice Center, a libertarian legal organization.

According to AP, both lawsuits contend that the government did not sufficiently justify the tariffs country by country or explain how the duties would address the practices cited under Section 301. Critics argue the new measures function as a substitute for earlier worldwide tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down in February and arrived as temporary 10% global tariffs were expiring. The White House did not immediately comment to AP.

The case matters because the new tariffs reportedly cover 99% of U.S. imports, potentially affecting a broad range of companies and consumers. AP notes that legal experts see this challenge as more difficult than earlier tariff cases, because Section 301 tariffs used during Trump’s first term, particularly against China, withstood litigation.