Gray Proctor was quoted in a series of Tax Notes articles covering the emerging split of authority on which court has jurisdiction to hear challenges to presidential authority to levy tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”).
On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) found in V.O.S. Selections Inc. v. United States and Oregon v. Trump that the imposition of tariffs against China, Mexico, Canada, and other countries exceeded the president’s authority, and the court issued an order enjoining the tariff orders.
Discussing that day’s order, Gray explained to TaxNotes that CIT “has jurisdiction over matters arising out of laws governing tariffs. Under the court’s own finding, IEEPA does not pertain to tariffs. I don’t think it makes sense to talk about the president’s action being a law when it’s taken without statutory authorization. So there is a chance that this is vacated” on jurisdictional grounds, but “[a]s to the merits, I don’t think there’s any question that the court got it right.”
On May 29, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also ruled the IEEPA does not give the president the authority to impose tariffs. However, while the CIT had argued it had exclusive jurisdiction over court challenges to IEEPA-based tariffs, the district court challenged that ruling, explaining that CIT would only have jurisdiction if the IEEPA actually allowed for the imposition of tariffs, which the district court found it did not.
In Tax Notes’s coverage of the second decision, Gray explained that a “‘law of the United States’ as referred to in the [CIT] jurisdictional statute does not in my mind refer to unauthorized presidential action.” Gray continued, “It might be different if we were in an area that the Constitution gave the president independent authority to act on, but here the president only has the authority delegated by Congress. I think the correct focal point is the statute he claims to give him the authorization, as the district court said.”
The full article on the CIT ruling and subsequent appeals court stay titled “Trade Court Overturns Trump Tariffs; Order Stayed on Appeal” can be found here.
The full article on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruling titled “U.S. Government Lodges Appeal in Another IEEPA Tariff Defeat” can be found here.
About Gray
Gray is an experienced and accomplished appellate advocate who represents clients facing tax and tax-adjacent legal issues at Kostelanetz LLP.
