A US federal appeals court ruled that most of former President Donald Trump’s tariffs are unlawful, dealing a significant blow to one of the defining pillars of his economic policy, Reuters reported.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in a 7-4 vote on Friday that Trump exceeded his legal authority by imposing wide tariffs under emergency powers.
The verdict is stayed until October 14, giving the Trump administration time to file an appeal with the US Supreme Court.
Trump lambasted the verdict in a post on his Truth Social platform, describing the court as “highly partisan”.
He warned, “If these tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the country,” but added that he remains confident the Supreme Court will overturn the decision.
The levies were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which has usually been used to penalise or freeze foreign rivals’ assets.
Trump, on the other hand, used the act to justify imposing broad tariffs on imports from a number of US trading partners, claiming that ongoing trade deficits and the influx of illegal substances such as fentanyl presented national emergencies.
It continued, “It seems unlikely that Congress intended, in enacting IEEPA, to depart from its past practice and grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs.”
The verdict applies to two sets of tariffs imposed during Trump’s second term: a set of “reciprocal” tariffs adopted in April as part of a larger trade war and another set imposed in February that targeted China, Canada, and Mexico.
Trump had linked the latter to what he claimed was their failure to stop the flow of illegal fentanyl across US borders, which all three countries have denied.
