Multiple companies sue the US government for new tariff measures

New York, July 25 (Xinhua) -- According to the latest document from the US International Trade Court, multiple companies have filed two lawsuits against the new tariff measures announced by the US government on the 23rd, requesting the court to rule to suspend or revoke the new tariff measures.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced on the 23rd that, under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% will be imposed on 60 countries and regions under the pretext of "forced labor" to replace the global import tariffs that expire on the 24th. The new tariffs are scheduled to take effect on the 24th Eastern Time in the United States.

One of the lawsuits claims that the tax decisions made by the US government under Section 301 exceed the scope authorized by relevant laws. The indictment states that Section 301 only allows the United States Trade Representative to take countermeasures against a specific act, policy, or practice, and does not authorize the government to impose taxes on such a wide range of trading partners and imported goods.

Another lawsuit, citing similar reasons, requests the International Trade Court to rule that the latest tariffs imposed by the US government are illegal and revoke them.

Both lawsuits point out that the latest tax measure taken by the US government is essentially a replacement for the previous tariff measures. On February 20th, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorize the President to impose large-scale tariffs. Subsequently, on February 20th, US President Trump announced that under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, a global tariff of 10% would be imposed on all countries for a period of 150 days to replace tariffs deemed illegal by the US Supreme Court. This tariff expires on July 24th.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative has not yet responded to these two lawsuits.