Attorneys Patrick Childress, Ashley Akers React to SCOTUS IEEPA Tariffs Hearing

International Trade attorney Patrick Childress and litigation attorney Ashley Akers were interviewed by multiple news outlets about the U.S. Supreme Court hearing on President Donald Trump's authority to impose sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). They joined numerous other legal and trade commentators in noting it was a strong day for the tariff challengers.

Ms. Akers, a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, told USA Today that there was "notable skepticism from justices across the ideological spectrum."

She also highlighted what the process might look like for refunds if the court rules against the government.

"Given the high volume of expected refunds, it would not be surprising if CBP implemented a streamlined or automated process, as seen in prior duty refunds, with importers possibly needing to update payment details via a CBP form. It is also possible but unlikely that CBP would issue automatic blanket refunds without specific claims," she told CNN.

For his part, Mr. Childress, previously an attorney at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), talked about the options for the government if the Supreme Court rules against it. Trump has already relied on legislation such as Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose tariffs on steel, aluminum and auto parts, among other goods, and Mr. Childress explained to Forbes the administration could rely on these authorities to replicate the IEEPA regime, albeit with a longer timeline for implementation. For this reason, he cautioned in an interview with Global News about assuming the case outcome with significantly alter U.S. trade policy.

"I think folks might be putting a little bit too much stock in the Supreme Court decision – in particular, the folks who don't like tariffs," he said. "While there very well could be this brief period while the tariff burden is low, I think the tariffs are going to go up to the same or very similar rates pretty quickly."

Read the articles published in Bloomberg Law, CBS News, CNN, Forbes, Global News, Reuters and USA Today.