Liberty Justice Center files lawsuit challenging new Section 301 tariffs after Section 122 expiration
July 24—The Liberty Justice Center has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade challenging the administration’s imposition of new tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, following the expiration of temporary Section 122 tariffs. The new Section 301 duties, which took effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 24, impose tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on products from 80 countries, covering 99.4% of imports into the United States.
The lawsuit argues that the administration cannot simply transfer a global tariff policy from one statute to another without meeting the requirements set by Congress. According to the Liberty Justice Center, "The administration allowed one global tariff to expire and immediately replaced it with another under a different statute. Changing the statute doesn’t change the law. Every tariff authority has limits, and every administration must respect them."
Filed on behalf of two American small businesses—Burlap & Barrel, a New York-based spice retailer, and Collective Horology, a California watch distributor—the complaint alleges that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) imposed near-uniform tariffs across 60 economies without adequately establishing, for each, the specific governmental act or policy being challenged, how it burdens U.S. commerce, or how the tariffs would eliminate the identified practice. The complaint also states that the tariffs affect lawful imports with no demonstrated connection to forced labor, including products from businesses with transparent supply chains. Ethan Frisch, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Burlap & Barrel, said, "Burlap & Barrel was built around transparent supply chains, direct sourcing and long-term relationships with farmers. These tariffs would punish a responsible American business, and the farmers we work with, without showing how taxes on our spices would address the policies of foreign governments that USTR says it is targeting."
Asher Rapkin, Co-Founder of Collective Horology, said, "Collective Horology exists to bring independent watchmakers' work to collectors around the world. We know the makers we work with personally, and forced labor has no place in what they do. These tariffs level that accusation across entire countries, and it's small businesses like ours writing the checks, alongside the very makers we champion, without anyone showing how taxing our imports fixes anything. We're in this fight for them as much as for ourselves."
The Liberty Justice Center’s complaint also references statements by senior administration officials indicating that Section 301 tariffs were intended to replace those invalidated under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and to preserve similar revenue. The organization has previously secured a Supreme Court ruling that IEEPA does not authorize presidential tariffs and successfully challenged Section 122 tariffs in the Court of International Trade. According to Sara Albrecht, Chairman and CEO of the Liberty Justice Center, "This case is not about whether tariffs are wise economic policy. It is about requiring the Executive Branch to follow the law Congress enacted."
The Liberty Justice Center is a nonprofit law firm focused on public-interest litigation, offering legal services through precedent-setting lawsuits addressing issues such as free speech and government overreach, and advancing constitutional rights through strategic litigation, according to the official website.