The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the administration of former President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden’s administration in a case involving steel tariffs.
USP Holdings claimed in an appeal that lower courts rejected that the Trump administration’s decision to enact the tariffs was improper.
The Biden administration argued against USP Holdings and other steel importers who claimed the tariffs had harmed them while largely maintaining the current level of tariffs.
“The Biden administration understands that simply lifting steel tariffs without any solution in place, particularly beyond the dialogue, could well mean layoffs and plant closures in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other states where the impact would be felt not only economically but politically,” Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said.
“Trump cited Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1962, which permits the president to impose restrictions on the importation of goods deemed essential to national security.
He said at the time that the tariffs were needed to bolster the production of airplanes, ships, and military materials with U.S. steel. The tariffs created tension with some U.S. allies, although some countries were exempted from the policy,” the report added.
“The Supreme Court turned away the petition in USP Holdings Inc. v. United States, court file 22-565, in an unsigned order. The court didn’t explain its decision.
No justices dissented from the order. In April 2017, then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross commenced an investigation to determine whether “steel was being imported under such circumstances as to threaten or impair national security,” according to the petition filed with the Supreme Court,” it continued.
Beyond that, the Supreme Court has been busy.
The Supreme Court appears poised to deliver rulings this term that could upend climate change lawsuits.
In an opinion piece for Fox News, Boyden Gray — who served as counsel to the vice president in the Reagan administration and as White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush — detailed how federal courts are struggling to agree on whether climate change lawsuits are governed by state or federal law, meaning the Supreme Court will likely decide for them.
