Trade Court Denies Emergency Relief Against Threatened Brazil Tariff
The Court of International Trade on July 29 denied importers Johanna Foods' and Johanna Beverage Company's application for a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump's threatened 50% tariff on Brazil. Judge Timothy Reif held that the importers failed to show "a likelihood that immediate and irreparable harm would occur before the threatened August 1, 2025 tariff" (Johanna Foods v. Executive Office of the President of the United States, CIT # 25-00155).
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Given that the importers presume the Brazil tariff will be imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the judge stayed the case pending a "final, unappealable decision" in the lead case on the president's use of IEEPA to impose tariffs: V.O.S. Selections v. Trump. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will hear oral argument on July 31 in the V.O.S. Selections case.
The court's decision came one day before Trump signed an executive order that will raise certain duties on imports from Brazil to 50% beginning Aug. 6 (see 2507300066).
Johanna Foods and Johanna Beverage, both orange juice importers, brought the case earlier this month in an effort to enjoin Trump from following through on the tariff threat, which Trump said would be in response to the Brazilian government's treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's attacks on free elections and the free speech rights of Americans, and the "longstanding and very unfair trade relationship" (see 2507180062).
The importers argued that the tariff isn't a valid exercise of IEEPA or Section 301. Under IEEPA, the threatened tariff would fail to pass judicial scrutiny, since Trump failed to identify an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States" or declare a "national emergency 'with respect to such threat,'" the importers said.
Specifically, the importers said the Brazil tariff also fails to "deal with" any trade barriers to the Brazilian orange juice market, since U.S. orange juice production has tanked in the past 25 years due to non-trade reasons. Thus, applying the reciprocal tariffs to Brazilian orange juice would fail to grow the U.S. manufacturing base or meet any of Trump's other justifications for the tariffs, the importers said (see 2507220041).
In rejecting Johanna Foods' and Johanna Beverage's TRO application, Reif said that the importers' admission that Trump's letter isn't an executive order, proclamation or other legally binding executive action "dooms plaintiffs’ request for emergency relief." The letter "neither cited to nor invoked any statutory or constitutional authority for the Brazil Tariff’s potential imposition."
As a result, "neither the President nor any agency has taken final action that is subject to judicial review by this Court," the judge said. While the importers say they will face "immediate and irreparable harm from an action that may or may not occur," it's "well-established that hypothetical or speculative harm does not warrant judicial intervention even under an existing legal action, let alone an expected or threatened legal action," Reif said.
And while the importers also said the reciprocal tariff exceeds the president's authority under IEEPA, the companies don't challenge the reciprocal tariffs in their complaint, the court noted. "For that reason, the court declines to consider arguments related to the Trade Deficit Tariff," Reif said.