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By Jack Queen
(Reuters) -A legal advocacy group on Monday asked the U.S. Court of International Trade to block President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on foreign trading partners, arguing the president overstepped his authority.
The lawsuit was filed by the nonpartisan Liberty Justice Center on behalf of five small U.S. businesses that import goods from countries targeted by the tariffs. The businesses range from a New York wine and spirits importer to a Virginia-based maker of educational kits and musical instruments.
The lawsuit challenges Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariffs, as well as duties he separately levied against China.
"No one person should have the power to impose taxes that have such vast global economic consequences," Liberty Justice Center senior counsel Jeffrey Schwab said in a statement. "The Constitution gives the power to set tax rates — including tariffs — to Congress, not the President."
White House spokesman Harrison Fields defended Trump's tariffs in a statement.
"Never Trumpers will always oppose him, but President Trump is standing up for Main Street by putting an end to our trading partners — especially China — exploiting the U.S. His plan levels the playing field for businesses and workers to address our country’s national emergency of chronic trade deficits," Fields said.
The Trump administration faces a similar lawsuit in Florida federal court, where a small business owner has asked a judge to block tariffs imposed on China.
Trump imposed 10% tariffs on goods from all countries and higher tariffs for countries the administration says have high barriers to U.S. imports, most of which he later paused for 90 days.
The president's executive order invoked laws including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives presidents special powers to combat unusual or extraordinary threats to the U.S.
In Monday's lawsuit, the Liberty Justice Center said the law does not give presidents the authority to impose tariffs.
"There is no precedent for using IEEPA to impose tariffs. No other President has ever done so or ever claimed the power to do so," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit asks the court to block enforcement of the tariffs and declare Trump lacked the authority to impose them.
The New York-based Court of International Trade is a U.S. federal court with broad jurisdiction over most trade-related matters.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler, Lisa Shumaker, Alexia Garamfalvi, Rod Nickel and Gerry Doyle)
