Trump is using tariff law illegally, says Alan Wolff, the trade lawyer who wrote the statute

The lawyer who drafted a key US tariff law says US President Donald Trump is illegally using it to impose sweeping tariffs on dozens of trading partners.

Alan Wolff, a former Nixon administration trade lawyer who drafted what became Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, told CNN the law was intended to address specific trade practices by individual countries.

“I have a sense of ownership of the statute. I have a long history with it. And it’s being misused,” Wolff said.

Trump has used Section 301 to impose tariffs of between 10 and 12.5 percent on more than 60 countries after a US investigation into policies involving goods made with forced labour.

“The notion that you can write your own tariff against anyone and anybody is offensive. This isn’t what we intended,” Wolff told CNN.

The policy will face a legal test on September 30, when the US Court of International Trade hears a challenge brought by the Liberty Justice Center.

The group argues Trump is claiming powers that Section 301 does not give the president.

Wolff and two other former senior US trade officials have filed a brief supporting the challenge, arguing the tariffs should be struck down as unlawful.

“The resulting tariffs should be set aside as contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious,” they wrote.