Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Most of Trump’s Tariff Policy

Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Most of Trump’s Tariff Policy

A federal appeals court dealt a major blow to the Trump administration’s core economic policy late Friday, ruling that many of its signature tariffs were imposed illegally and exceeded the authority granted to the president under a decades-old emergency statute. While the tariffs remain temporarily in place pending potential review by the Supreme Court, the decision significantly undermines the administration’s ability to unilaterally reshape international trade policy through broad import taxes.

 

Court Decision and Legal Grounds

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In a 7-4 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit invalidated the bulk of tariffs President Trump levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The majority found that the law did not authorize the president to impose extensive import duties—especially not those enacted by executive orders targeting almost every country on earth, including sweeping reciprocal tariffs and those justified by the so-called “fentanyl emergency.”

 

“This ruling protects American businesses and consumers from the uncertainty and harm these unlawful tariffs have caused,” Jeffrey Schwab, who is the director of litigation for the Liberty Justice Center, told the Wall Street Journal. He brought the case on behalf of a small wine importer.

 

It is noted that Trump is the first U.S. president to use IEEPA for such a purpose, a move that sparked immediate lawsuits from businesses, states, and trade partners who claimed devastating economic effects without a legal basis. Friday’s ruling affirms a previous trade court’s May decision that the president’s rationale did not meet the emergency requirements or scope defined by the statute.