Court strikes down Trump reciprocal tariffs

A federal court ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority with his reciprocal tariffs, dealing a blow to a major tenet of the president’s economic agenda.

The judges wrote that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law that Trump invoked to justify the tariffs, does not actually give the president the power to implement the sweeping duties initiated last month.

“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the judges wrote.

“The Trafficking Tariffs fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders,” it continued.

The suit was brought on behalf of five U.S. businesses that rely on imports to some extent. The judges said that Trump’s tariff orders were “unlawful as to all,” not just those plaintiffs’ companies, so there would be “no question here of narrowly tailored relief.”

The judges ordered the challenged tariffs to be “vacated and their operation permanently enjoined.”

Lawyers for the White House could appeal the matter, but the case and decision put Trump’s economic agenda under pressure.

Trump, on April 2, announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on imports from nations around the world. Days later, on April 9, he issued a 90-day pause but kept in place the 10% tariffs on most products coming into the country.

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