A major legal blow has been dealt to former US President Donald Trump’s trade policies. A federal appeals court has ruled that most of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on foreign imports were unlawful, escalating the legality of the tariff crisis to the US Supreme Court. The ruling does not affect tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imports under Section 232, which were increased to 50 percent in early June.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit declared that Trump’s so-called “reciprocal” tariffs, applied to countries worldwide as well as to China, Mexico, and Canada, violated the law. The judges stated that these tariffs could not be justified under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which Trump had used as his legal basis.
Trump fiercely criticized the decision on Truth Social, writing: “If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America.” Trump argued that a trade imbalance posed a national security threat, thus justifying emergency action. However, the appeals court disagreed, ruling that imposing tariffs falls under Congress’s core authority, not the president’s.
The ruling, however, will not take effect until October 14, giving the administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court.