Reiter Opines on Legality of President Trump’s Canadian Tariffs in The Regulatory Review

02.27.2025

Stinson LLP Senior Counsel Harvey Reiter authored an article for The Regulatory Review, "President Trump's Pretextual Justifications for Raising Tariffs on Canadian Energy."

Reiter opines on the implications of President Donald Trump's executive order imposing tariffs on Canadian imports. He questions if the Trump administration's justification satisfies the legal standards for executive action under U.S. trade laws.

"The rapidity with which President Trump suspended his national emergency-based tariffs and the thin rationale for suspension, at least call into question whether his actions were really prompted by 'an unusual and extraordinary threat' to our 'national security and foreign policy,'" Reiter said.

Reiter analyzes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and current trade enforcement tools to evaluate the legitimacy of the executive orders. He draws parallels to a past U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Department of Commerce v. New York, examining whether the stated rationale for the tariffs could be considered "pretextual" under administrative law, and emphasizes the potential economic repercussions that could arise from the president's actions.

Reiter focuses his practice on competition in the electric and natural gas industries, representing clients in proceedings before Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and federal courts. He brings a wealth of knowledge to his legal counsel in litigation, appellate, transactional and other legal services, and offers regulatory and trial insights with a strong focus on antitrust and competition issues. Reiter is an adjunct professor of law at George Washington University Law School and editor-in-chief of the Energy Law Journal.

Read the full article.