FILE PHOTO: U.S President Donald Trump looks on on the day he signs the HALT Fentanyl Act, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 16, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
A right-wing legal advocacy group known for filing lawsuits against the regulatory state is once again targeting President Donald Trump's powers to unilaterally enact tariffs on imported goods.
In a new statement released on Monday, the New Civil Liberties Alliance unveiled its new legal complaint against the tariff system imposed by the Trump administration, filed in the Western District of Texas.
"He has cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), but that statute authorizes emergency actions like economic sanctions and asset freezes to protect the United States from foreign threats," said the statement. "It does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. Representing FIREDISC, the nonprofit Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA), and Ryan Wholesale, NCLA asks the District Court to find jurisdiction to hear this lawsuit and issue summary judgment for Plaintiffs, setting aside the unlawful tariffs."
“These unlawful tariffs are a presidential power grab that usurps Congress’s right to control tariffs and upsets the Constitution’s separation of powers. They are especially crushing to small businesses—including our clients in this case. The court should hold the tariffs unlawful and strike them down," said senior NCLA counsel Andrew Morris in an individual statement.
This is not the first NCLA action against Trump's tariffs. Another lawsuit was filed earlier this year on behalf of a home management products company in Florida.
This comes as Trump has publicly turned against Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society kingmaker who helped advise on Trump's conservative judicial nominations in his first term. Leo is affiliated with organizations that help fund NCLA.