In the issue concerning steel tariffs, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the administration of former President Donald Trump, as opposed to the current administration led by President Joe Biden.
USP Holdings contended that the implementation of tariffs by the Trump administration was inappropriate, as stated in their unsuccessful appeal to the lower courts. The Biden administration presented counterarguments to USP Holdings and other steel importers who asserted that the tariffs had inflicted damage upon their operations, while predominantly upholding the existing tariff rates.
“The Biden administration understands that simply lifting steel tariffs without any solution in place, particularly beyond the dialogue, could well mean layoffs and plant closures in Pennsylvania and in Ohio and other states where obviously the impact would be felt not only economically but politically,” Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said.
“Trump cited Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1962, which permits the president to impose restrictions on the importation of goods deemed essential to national security. He said at the time that the tariffs were needed to bolster the production of airplanes, ships, and military materials with U.S. steel. The tariffs created tension with some U.S. allies, although some countries were exempted from the policy,” the report added.
“The Supreme Court turned away the petition in USP Holdings Inc. v. United States, court file 22-565, in an unsigned order. The court didn’t explain its decision. No justices dissented from the order. In April 2017, then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross commenced an investigation to determine whether “steel was being imported under such circumstances as to threaten or impair national security,” according to the petition filed with the Supreme Court,” it continued.
Moreover, the Supreme Court has been actively engaged in its duties.
The Supreme Court seems prepared to issue opinions during this term that have the potential to significantly disrupt climate change litigation.
Boyden Gray, a former counsel to the vice president in the Reagan administration and White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush, provided an analysis in a Fox News opinion piece regarding the ongoing challenge faced by federal courts in determining the jurisdiction of climate change lawsuits. The issue at hand pertains to the question of whether these lawsuits should be governed by state or federal law, ultimately necessitating the intervention of the Supreme Court for resolution.
“For over a century, the Supreme Court has held that lawsuits over air (and water) pollution that crosses state lines must be decided under federal law. This means overreaching states and cities cannot impose their environmental agendas on their neighbors or otherwise hijack the domain of federal environmental law, federal regulations, and international treaties,” Gray wrote.
“The Supreme Court unanimously extended this principle in American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut (AEP). That case, decided in 2011, involved federal-law claims by eight states, New York City, and others to compel certain power companies to abate their greenhouse-gas emissions. In an opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court concluded that applying federal law was appropriate, then agreed with the Obama administration that those claims couldn’t proceed in court at all because Congress has delegated the regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act,” he added.
Gray proceeded to highlight two more instances in which progressive states and towns have initiated legal actions seeking substantial financial compensation amounting to billions of dollars. These claims are predicated on the assertion that the damages incurred are purportedly linked to climate change, encompassing both historical and ongoing impacts, as well as anticipated future consequences.
Nevertheless, their current strategy involves referencing state legislation in order to circumvent the argument put out by the deceased Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Gray wrote:
The 2nd Circuit in 2021 dismissed such claims outright in the City of New York v. Chevron Corp. There, New York City sued a handful of energy companies under state law for damages allegedly caused by climate change. The court concluded that “over a century” of Supreme Court precedent makes clear that federal law necessarily applies to lawsuits relating to air pollution that crosses state lines, which includes greenhouse gas emissions. Following AEP, the Second Circuit dismissed the case.
Three of these cases are now before the Supreme Court—the 3rd Circuit’s decision in Delaware v. BP America Inc., the 9th Circuit’s decision in Chevron Corp. v. San Mateo County, and the 10th Circuit’s decision in Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. v. Board of County Commissioners of Boulder County. The energy companies in each case have asked the court to intervene and resolve both splits, reaffirming that climate change lawsuits are inherently governed by federal law and therefore belong in federal court.
Gray cautioned that during this term, the Supreme Court possesses the capacity to administer a significant setback to individuals aligned with liberal ideologies and those who seek to manipulate legal frameworks to detrimentally impact large corporations under the guise of addressing climate change.
Rephrased from: The Republic Brief By: Trump Knows
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