argued that the Ross report was "arbitrary and capricious" under a federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act. The trade court in 2021 ruled against the steel importers, finding that the Ross report could not be challenged in court because it was not a "final agency action."
On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit broke with the trade court, ruling that the Ross findings did constitute a final agency action. However, the Federal Circuit found that the report's findings were not subject to court review under administrative law and that the policy otherwise complied with federal law. The Biden administration, which has largely maintained Trump's tariff policy, urged the justices not to take up the appeal. Trump is a Republican and Biden a Democrat. In imposing the tariffs, Trump invoked Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1962, which allows a U.S. president to restrict imports of goods critical to national security. Exemptions were granted to some countries, but the tariffs became an irritant in foreign relations including with European allies.
Trump at the time said the tariffs were necessary for national security to maintain healthy domestic production, and said the United States was committed to building its ships, planes and other military equipment with American steel.
During his presidency, Trump rattled the world trade order by imposing unilateral tariffs to combat what he called unfair trade practices by China, the European Union and other major trading partners of the United States. China and some other countries retaliated by imposing tariffs on U.S. goods. The Supreme Court last year refused to hear a separate challenge by steel companies to Trump's 2018 decision to double tariffs on steel imports from Turkey, also on national security grounds. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ U.S. Supreme Court turns away challenge to Trump steel tariffs ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by John Kruzel in Washington; Additional reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
