Two importers challenging tariffs imposed under the international Emergency Economic Powers Act, Learning Resources and Hand2Mind, petitioned the Supreme Court June 17 to hear their case in a bid to accelerate the resolution of the challenges to President Donald Trump's IEEPA tariffs. The companies, represented by Akin Gump, said the high court should hear the case now in "light of the tariffs’ massive impact on virtually every business and consumer across the Nation, and the unremitting whiplash caused by the unfettered tariffing power the President claims" (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, Sup. Ct. # 24-1287).
The two importers challenging tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act before the District Court for the District of Columbia directly petitioned the Supreme Court to hear their case. The importers, Learning Resources and Hand2Mind, represented by Akin Gump, said the question of whether IEEPA authorizes tariffs "will inevitably fall to this Court to resolve definitively." The companies said they can't wait for the normal appellate process to wrap up, even on an expedited basis, given the "tariffs’ massive impact on virtually every business and consumer across the Nation, and the unremitting whiplash caused by the unfettered tariffing power the President claims." The importers are only asking the high court to review whether IEEPA provides for tariffs and not any of its other challenges to President Donald Trump's IEEPA tariff action, noting that it's the only claim the government says courts have the power to review.
President Donald Trump expressed confidence that the U.S. and Canada will "work something out" on trade, just before he met June 16 with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The two were meeting ahead of the beginning of a two-day Group of 7 summit in Canada's Alberta province.
Bloomberg reported that an Indonesian delegation's trip to Washington that had been scheduled for next week was canceled because its proposal to address its trade surplus was considered sufficient.
The executive director of the U.S. office of the top association for Mexico's businesses echoed the upbeat line of his government, that the USMCA carveouts in the global trade war give Mexico and Canada a leg up.
President Donald Trump, at a June 12 event rolling back a California standard that by 2035, all vehicles sold would be zero-emission, pointed to his original Section 301 tariff on Chinese electric vehicles as the reason you don't see those cars in the U.S.
Senators from both parties asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to respond to a Wall Street Journal editorial headlined "Trump Has No China Trade Strategy." Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., when he had a chance to ask Bessent questions, quoted from it that Trump "has used tariffs as an economic scatter-gun against friends as well as foes."
A Polish official expressed optimism that the U.S. and European countries could hash out a trade deal soon, even as the 90-day timeline for the pause of reciprocal tariffs ends in less than a month.
The U.S. and China reached an agreement for Beijing to rein in export curbs on critical minerals, and for the U.S. to "provide to China what was agreed to," President Donald Trump said June 11, offering few details about the substance of the deal.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's stay of the Court of International Trade decision vacating all International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariff action likely doesn't signal a win for either side on the merits of the issue, various attorneys told us. In addition, the court's move to set a July 31 oral argument date and have all active judges hear the case indicates a decision will likely be issued in August, the attorneys said.