International Trade Attorney Patrick Childress Reacts to IEEPA Tariff Decision, Details Next Steps for the Government

International Trade attorney Patrick Childress was cited by multiple news outlets in articles published after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision invalidating tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The court concluded IEEPA did not authorize President Donald Trump to impose the sweeping measures and that power is instead reserved for Congress. Mr. Childress, a formed counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), shared with Industry Week and Forbes that although the ruling deals a temporary setback to the administration's trade policy plans, it has multiple options for establishing similar measures under different laws such as Section 122 and Section 301. He elaborated for The New York Times that the 10 percent global tariffs under Section 122 announced shortly after the court issued its ruling can be raised to 15 percent, leaving the White House "room to increase tariffs if it needs to ratchet up pressure on a particular trading partner." Thus, he cautioned, overall, expect any relief to be short-lived and new regimes to be initiated quickly.

"More broadly, today's Supreme Court ruling will not convince the administration to walk away from its signature international economic policy tool. Instead, expect the administration to double down on tariffs in the coming weeks," he predicted for Industry Week.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, he talked about the possibility of refunds for the importers who have already paid billions in the now-unlawful fees. Companies have already filed lawsuits at the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) to preserve refund eligibility, and questions remain about how the CIT will review claims and how U.S. Customs and Border Protection will execute the refund process.

"This is largely to secure their legal rights if it becomes necessary to file a court case in order to receive an IEEPA tariff refund," Mr. Childress explained. "At this point it's not 100 percent clear or certain that that will be necessary."

Read in Industry Week: Supreme Court Strikes Down Most Trump Tariffs

Read in Forbes: Trump Has 'Backup Plan' After Supreme Court Overturns Tariffs – Here's How Far He Could Go

Read in The New York Times: After Stunning Setback, Trump Finds Other Ways to Impose Tariffs

Read in The Globe and Mail: What Happens to the Billions of Dollars in Tariffs the U.S. Collected?