Industry lobbyists speaking last month during a webinar sponsored by the US Air-conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) opined that President Donald Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was likely a risky instrument to advance his trade agenda compared to other proven, but more time-consuming approaches for imposing tariffs.
“The use of IEEPA basically allows the White House, in their view, to declare a national emergency and say that a tariff is necessary to address that emergency,” Bracewell’s Scott Segal said, as quoted by the REMI Network. “But IEEPA does not say that you can impose a tariff based on the emergency; it says: you may impose such economic policy as may prove necessary. It’s much more generic,” Segal explained.
“We often say: Don’t ask a court a question you don’t already know the answer to because it might just end up limiting the statute you wanted to proceed under. The president may find that will occur with tariffs,” said Segal.
