Federal courts on Wednesday frozen many large-scale tariffs on President Trump on nearly every foreign country, ruling that taxes exceed the president's legal authority.
The ruling was issued by a group of judges from the U.S. Court of International Trade 10% tariff Trump assessed nearly every U.S. trading partner on Liberation Day last month, with tariffs in dozens of countries under threat. The court also blocked separate tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on China, Mexico and Canada, which have viewed drug trafficking and illegal immigration as reasoning for hiking.
The Trump administration proved the tariffs through a lawsuit citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), which grants the president the power to regulate imports in certain emergencies. But the court rejected the government's interpretation of the law on Wednesday and said it would be unconstitutional to grant the president's blanket authorization to set tariffs for any law passed by Congress.
"The court did not read Ieepa to grant such unlimited authority and abandoned the challenges encountered tariffs," the judge wrote on Wednesday.
The court said Mr. Trump's 10% global tariff was not authorized by the IEPA because they were designed to deal with the trade imbalance between the United States and the rest of the world, and the judge said it should be non-emergency legislation.
The court also found that tariffs in China, Canada and Mexico were not legal because they “don’t deal with the threats set forth in these orders.”
Three judges wrote Wednesday's ruling during his first term, former President Reagan, former President Barack Obama and Mr. Trump.
The Trump administration has signaled in court documents that the ruling will appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
White House spokesman Kush Desai responded back and forth through reasoning to defend tariffs, saying that the U.S. trade deficit with other countries “creates a national emergency in the American community.”
"Unelected judges are not a decision on how to properly resolve national emergency. President Trump promises to put the United States first, and the administration is committed to using executive power to resolve this crisis and restore American greatness."
Tariffs are a landmark part of Trump’s second term agenda. He believes that levying is necessary to promote U.S. manufacturing and end what he considers unfair trade practices. But these moves shocked the financial markets and attracted condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans.
Mr. Trump stuck to his tariff strategy, but stopped many taxes while vowing to negotiate with U.S. trading partners. A set of so-called “reciprocity” tariffs in dozens of countries Suspended in April At least three months. Product exemption from the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement 25% tariff. Large tariffs on Chinese goods Also cut In negotiations.
Meanwhile, tariffs file lawsuits from enterprises, democracies and other parties. Wednesday's ruling was linked to two lawsuits: one from a group of businesses that said they were hurt by tariffs and the other from several states.
Some legal theories have been put forward for some litigation of tariffs Long advocated by conservative lawyers and judges Restrict the authority of administrative departments. This includes the main problem doctrine, which Congress needs to explicitly authorize federal agencies to identify issues of great economic significance, while the non-authorized doctrine believes that Congress cannot delegate its legislative power to the executive branch.