Several lawsuits argued Donald Trump has exceeded his authority, left the US trade policy dependent on his whims and unleashed economic chaos – and the federal trade court has taken action
Donald Trump has today been prevented from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports by the federal trade court.
The court has enforced an emergency-powers law after at least seven lawsuits argued the US President, 78, has exceeded his authority. They claimed Mr Trump has left the US trade policy dependent on his whims and unleashed economic chaos with his gung-ho tariffs.
And the ruling from a three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade in New York City reads: “The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs.”
It referred to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which – albeit used rarely – orders the president to regulate international commerce. It was signed into law by Jimmy Carter, early into the Democrat’s tenure.
Oregon’s Democratic attorney general, Dan Rayfield, welcomed the ruling and described Trump’s tariffs as unlawful, reckless and economically devastating. He said: “This ruling reaffirms that our laws matter, and that trade decisions can’t be made on the president’s whim.”
The Trump administration is expected to appeal against the decision, which is a massive blow to the world leader’s trade policy. The decision was reached after at lease seven lawsuits challenged Mr Trump’s aggressive levies. A dozen states also filed suit, led by Oregon.
Tariffs must typically be approved by Congress, but Mr Trump says he has the power to act because the country’s trade deficits amount to a national emergency. He imposed tariffs on most of the countries in the world at one point, sending markets reeling.
The plaintiffs argued that the emergency powers law does not authorise the use of tariffs, and even if it did, the trade deficit does not meet the law’s requirement that an emergency be triggered only by an “unusual and extraordinary threat.” The US has run a trade deficit with the rest of the world for 49 consecutive years.
Mr Trump imposed tariffs on most of the countries in the world in an effort to reverse America’s massive and long-standing trade deficits. He earlier plastered levies on imports from Canada, China and Mexico to combat the illegal flow of immigrants and the synthetic opioids across the US border.
His administration argues that courts approved then-President Richard Nixon’s emergency use of tariffs in 1971, and that only Congress, and not the courts, can determine the “political” question of whether the president’s rationale for declaring an emergency complies with the law.
Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs shook global financial markets and led many economists to downgrade the outlook for U.S. economic growth. So far, though, the tariffs appear to have had little impact on the world’s largest economy.
The lawsuit was filed by a group of small businesses, including a wine importer, VOS Selections, whose owner has said the tariffs are having a major impact and his company may not survive.
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