US Chamber Could Sue to Block Mexican Tariffs That Tech Also Decries
So grave would be the "ripple effect" damage to Americans if President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to impose tariffs on Mexican imports that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce won’t rule out mounting a legal challenge to block the duties, said the business group’s chief policy officer. "We have no choice but to explore every option available to push back,” Executive Vice President Neil Bradley told journalists Friday. To stem the influx of migrants at the southern border, Trump will use authority under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose 5 percent tariffs on Mexican imports starting June 10, the president said. “If the crisis persists,” he would hike the duties to 10 percent July 1, 15 percent Aug. 1, 20 percent Sept. 1, and 25 percent Oct. 1.
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"Given the gravity of the situation, we have to explore all of our options,” Bradley said. The White House didn’t comment. "Lawsuits seeking to overturn actions taken pursuant to IEEPA have made their way through the judicial system," the Congressional Research Service reported in March. Much of the litigation involved "challenges to the breadth of congressionally delegated authority and assertions of violations of constitutional rights," said CRS. "Most of these challenges have failed."
A 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods would hit the U.S. economy with $17 billion annually in “new taxes,” said Bradley. “At 25 percent, it’s $86 billion.” Mexico “has recently become the number one trading partner of the United States,” said John Murphy, the Chamber’s senior vice president-international affairs. The threat of Mexico tariffs “creates a major new hurdle” to congressional approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on free trade, said Murphy.
Earlier Friday, CTA and the Information Technology Industry Council also attacked the new Mexican tariff threat as detrimental to U.S. interests. CTA President Gary Shapiro said Mexico is "the number one export market for American consumer technology sector products.” If Mexico retaliates, he said, U.S. “employers and workers will end up paying twice over for the administration's misguided trade policies."
ITI thinks tariffs on Mexico “are not an appropriate tool to address serious immigration challenges,” said President Jason Oxman, who used to work at CTA's predecessor. “The most effective way to address these concerns is for the administration and Congress to pass a permanent solution to fix the United States’ broken and outdated immigration system.”
The Computer & Communications Industry Association echoed fears the Chamber's Murphy also expressed that the Mexican tariffs threat risks endangering congressional USMCA ratification. That threat to impose tariffs "is counter-productive in light of the USMCA and recent steps taken by all parties to implement the updated agreement," said CEO Ed Black: It "risks the full realization of the benefits of a modern trade agreement that brings the North American market into" this century.