Businesses sue Trump as he defends 'very standard tariffs'

In short:

The Trump administration's new wave of tariffs are being challenged in court.

The case has been taken up by a not-for-profit law firm that successfully fought the president's previous tariffs.

The lawsuit was lodged shortly after the imposition of the new tariffs, which include a 12.5 per cent levy on products from Australia.

Two small US businesses are suing Donald Trump to try to stop him from placing new tariffs on imports from scores of countries, including Australia.

The businesses' case has been taken up by non-profit law firm Liberty Justice Center, which successfully challenged Mr Trump's previous "liberation day" tariffs.

The new Trump tariffs, which include a 12.5 per cent levy on Australian imports, took effect on Friday.

The Trump administration imposed them after conducting trade investigations into all the US's major trading partners. The investigations found they were all doing too little to combat forced labour and slavery in supply chains.

The suing businesses allege those findings were predetermined. Their legal complaint argues the new tariffs are instead designed to maintain a tariff regime that has already been deemed unlawful.

The complaint points out that Trump officials publicly stated, on multiple occasions, that they would find ways to bring back tariffs after Mr Trump's first wave of tariffs were struck down in court.

"Some of those statements were made before USTR [US Trade Representative] completed — or, in some cases, even began — the investigations supposedly supporting this new tariff regime," the Liberty Justice Center said.

Experts split on whether tariffs will survive

The Liberty Justice Center filed its lawsuit on behalf of spice importer Burlap & Barrel and watch-seller Collective Horology.

It was filed in the US Court of International Trade, which initially ruled Mr Trump's previous tariffs were invalid before the case went to the Supreme Court.

The lawsuit's prospects of success are unclear.

Some analysts say the new "Section 301" tariffs, named for the relevant part of trade law, are more likely to withstand a legal challenge.

Former US trade negotiator Wendy Cutler, who is now senior vice-president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said: "The likelihood of courts overriding these tariffs is significantly lower than previous actions."

But Alan Wolff, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, wrote the new tariffs "would represent another case of presidential overreach".

"If they were challenged in court, the Supreme Court would likely overturn them," said Mr Wolff, who has held senior trade positions with the US government and the World Trade Organization.

'Very standard tariffs', says Trump

Australian businesses say the new tariffs will make it harder to compete in the US and hurt Australian jobs.

The Australian government has also said it will argue "very forcefully" against the "unjustified" new tariffs.

But that effort will likely be limited to diplomatic negotiation rather than legal challenge.

Mr Trump today defended the new tariffs.

"They're very standard tariffs," he said.

"The other way was easier. I thought the decision by the Supreme Court was not a good one. But we have many forms of tariffs."

Before yesterday's decision, Australia's exports to the US had been subject to a 10 per cent tariff — initially under Mr Trump's "liberation day" regime, and later under a temporary measure that expired at the same time that the new tariff kicked in.

So Australia's tariff rate increased 2.5 percentage points when the tariff took effect on Friday.

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