President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, April 10, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
A group of five small businesses sued President Donald Trump on Monday, seeking to block new tariffs he has imposed on foreign imports in recent weeks.
The lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade alleges that Trump has illegally usurped Congress’ power to levy tariffs by claiming that trade deficits with other countries constitute an emergency.
“Congress has not delegated any such power,” the suit says. “The statute the President
invokes — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (‘IEEPA’) — does not authorize the President to unilaterally issue across-the-board worldwide tariffs.”
The Liberty Justice Center, which is representing the owner-operated companies, said Trump’s new tariffs of at least 10% on imports from most countries and higher rates for scores of other nations are devastating small businesses across the country.
“His claimed emergency is a figment of his own imagination: trade deficits, which have persisted for decades without causing economic harm, are not an emergency,” the suit says.
“Nor do these trade deficits constitute an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat.'”
The Liberty Justice Center noted that the Trump administration imposed tariffs even on countries with which the United States does not have a trade deficit, “further undermining the administration’s justification.”
“This Court should declare the President’s unprecedented power grab illegal, enjoin the operation of the executive actions that purport to impose these tariffs under the IEEPA and reaffirm this country’s core founding principle: there shall be no taxation without representation,” the suit says.
The plaintiffs include New York-based VOS Selections, which imports and distributes small-production wines, spirits, and sakes; FishUSA in Pennsylvania, a retail and wholesale e-commerce business making and selling sportfishing tackle and related gear; and Genova Pipe in Utah, which makes plastic pipe, conduit, and fittings for plumbing, irrigation, drainage, and electrical applications.
MicroKits LLC in Virginia, which makes educational electronic kits and musical instruments, and Terry Precision Cycling, a Vermont-based brand of women’s cycling apparel, are also plaintiffs.
“Terry Cycling has already paid $25,000 in unplanned tariffs this year for goods for which Terry was the importer of record, and Terry projects that the tariffs will cost the company approximately $250,000 by the end of 2025,” the suit says.
Terry Cycling in 2026 expects to “face an estimated $1.2 million in tariff costs — an amount that is simply not survivable for a business of its size,” the suit says.
CNBC has requested comment from the White House on the lawsuit.
