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Smirk & Dagger Games, et al. v. Trump

CASE SUMMARY

This is the first class-action lawsuit against President Trump’s orders that impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which does not authorize or even mention tariffs.

Article I, § 8 of the Constitution grants Congress sole authority to control tariffs, which legislators have done by passing detailed tariff statutes. The President cannot bypass those statutes by invoking “emergency” authority in another statute that does not mention tariffs. His attempt to use the IEEPA this way not only violates the law as written, but it also invites application of the Supreme Court’s Major Questions Doctrine, which tells courts not to discern policies of “vast economic and political significance” in a law without explicit congressional authorization. If the IEEPA were held to permit this executive order, then the statute would run afoul of the nondelegation doctrine because it lacks an “intelligible principle” to limit or guide the president’s discretion in imposing tariffs.

OUR CLIENT

OUR TEAM

Kara Rollins
Senior Litigation Counsel
Christian Clase
Constitutional Litigation Fellow
John J. Vecchione
Senior Litigation Counsel
Andrew Morris
Senior Litigation Counsel
Zhonette Brown
General Counsel and Senior Litigation Counsel

RELEVANT MATERIALS

NCLA FILINGS

Class Action Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief

November 4, 2025 | Read More

PRESS RELEASES

NCLA Launches First Class-Action Lawsuit Against Trump’s Unlawful Emergency Tariff Orders

November 4, 2025

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