In the past few months, President Trump declared several national emergencies to impose a series of broad and ever-shifting tariffs on nearly every country on earth, purportedly under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).  

But IEEPA makes no mention of tariffs. In fact, no president in the law’s nearly 50-year history has ever used it in this way.

Now, Americans are reeling—facing potentially devastating increases in costs and paralyzing uncertainty about the future.  

But some business owners are taking a stand. Earlier today, my colleagues and I filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Jamey Stegmaier (co-founder of Stonemaier Games), Rebecca Melsky and Eva St. Clair (founders of Princess Awesome & Boy Wonder), Quent and Linda Cordair (founders of Quent Cordair Fine Art), and Pete Paulin (founder of 300 Below), challenging the constitutionality of these tariffs in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

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The Constitution gives Congress—not the president—the power to impose tariffs. And Congress cannot delegate that core legislative power to the president through a boundless statute like IEEPA. 

Jamey, Rebecca, Eva, the Cordairs, and Pete—like every American business owner—should be free to pursue their dreams without the threat of chaotic, unchecked government interference.  

As Jamey so eloquently puts it, “We will not stand idle while our livelihood—and the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners and contractors in the U.S.—are treated like pawns in a political game.” 

We must reassert the proper limits of presidential authority and restore the constitutional separation of powers before further damage is done.