Indian-American attorney Neal Katyal, who argued against Donald Trump’s global tariffs before the US Supreme Court and won, has called out the President following his imposition of 15% global tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.
In a social media post, Katyal questioned Trump’s use of the section under the 1974 law, which allows for a maximum tariff rate of 15%.
“Seems hard for the President to rely on the 15 percent statute (sec 122) when his DOJ in our case told the Court the opposite,” the Indian-American lawyer said in a post on X.
Katyal also quoted the DOJ’s words before the Supreme Court: “Nor does [122] have any obvious application here, where the concerns the President identified in declaring an emergency arise from trade deficits, which are conceptually distinct from balance-of-payments deficits.”
Calling out Trump for his decision to rely on executive orders to impose sweeping global tariffs, Katyal also called for the US President to act the ‘American way’.
“If he wants sweeping tariffs, he should do the American thing and go to Congress. If his tariffs are such a good idea, he should have no problem persuading Congress. That’s what our Constitution requires,” Katyal asserted.
‘Ridiculous, anti-American decision’
The Indian-American lawyer’s comments after Trump on Saturday (local time) increased the sweeping global tariffs he had imposed a day earlier from 10% to 15%, after a “thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and exceptionally anti-American decision [by SCOTUS].”
Trump’s decision to impose global tariffs came after the US Supreme Court struck down the tariffs he imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Commenting on the 6-3 SCOTUS verdict against Trump, Katyal, who had fought the case on behalf of a group of small businesses, had said, “It’s a reaffirmation of our deepest constitutional values and the idea that Congress, not any one man, controls the power to tax the American people.”
Subsequently, Trump on Friday issued an executive order invoking Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act to impose global tariffs again, hours after bashing the SCOTUS decision,
This section grants the US President authority on the issue of balance-of-payments (BOP), and allows the President to impose a “temporary import surcharge” of up to 15% or implement import quotas.
Tariffs imposed under Section 122 are valid for only 150 days without the approval of Congress: if the President wants to extend the duration of tariffs, they must get a vote of approval from Congress.
