Liberty Justice Center asks the court to set aside the forced-labor tariffs
Liberty Justice CenterCounsel for business challengers, speaking through its official organizational account
The Liberty Justice Center called for the tariffs to be set aside after submitting additional briefing on USTR's authority, standing and the scope of relief.
“Our answer: Set aside these unlawful tariffs.”
Original post
Where this statement fits
Are Trump's Section 301 "forced labor" tariffs a lawful remedy, or a pretext to revive struck-down global tariffs?
On July 23, 2026, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, at President Trump's direction, imposed additional tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 economies under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The duties took effect July 24. USTR says each economy failed to impose and effectively enforce a ban on imports of goods made with forced labor, which it found unreasonable and a burden on U.S. commerce. Businesses and 25 states sued in the Court of International Trade. They say the forced-labor rationale is a pretext for re-creating the global tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February, and that USTR skipped the country-by-country findings the statute requires. The Justice Department says USTR made findings for all 60 economies on a record of data, testimony and public comments. A three-judge panel heard argument on September 30, 2026. As of that date, no court had ruled on the Section 301 tariffs. The disputed question is whether the tariffs are a lawful remedy under Section 301 or a pretext to revive the struck-down global tariffs.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
The post says the court requested additional briefing after the September 30 argument. The post links the October 16 plaintiffs' brief, and a follow-up links the government's brief.
Before the quotation
The post says the court requested additional briefing after the September 30 argument.
After the quotation
The post links the October 16 plaintiffs' brief, and a follow-up links the government's brief.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to the tariffs, the Center expressly rejects them as unlawful and asks the court to end them. This is criticism of the policy, not defense of its own proposed remedy.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseDOJ defends USTR's tariff authority and opposes setting the tariffs aside
United States Department of Justice
“Congress included an expansive definition of “unreasonable” acts, policies, or practices, in Section 301.”Read statement
Burlap & Barrel says it is absorbing tariff costs and calls the Section 301 duties unlawful
Burlap & Barrel
“We have refused to raise our prices to customers or to pass the costs along to our partner farmers, so we've covered the increase internally. This has been quite challenging for us as a bootstrapped social enterprise.”Read statement
Gresser says USTR never showed forced-labor goods are traded or underpriced, so it has no right to impose the tariffs
“Ours argues that USTR's 301 investigation has not actually identified a "burden" or "restriction" on U.S. commerce - the standard the statute sets for administrations wanting to use it to impose tariffs - and so the Report of last June does not give USTR a right to impose tariffs.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Liberty Justice Center asks the court to set aside the forced-labor tariffs
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/6309-the-liberty-justice-center-called-for-the-tariffs
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Liberty Justice Center asks the court to set aside the forced-labor tariffs". First published: 2026-10-21. Last updated: 2026-10-21. https://disputeindex.com/events/6309-the-liberty-justice-center-called-for-the-tariffs