A U.S. appeals court has ruled that most of the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, are illegal.
The ruling affects Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs, which were applied to numerous countries around the world, as well as tariffs specifically levied on China, Mexico and Canada. As reported by BBC, in a 7–4 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected Trump’s argument that the tariffs were justified under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), declaring them “invalid as contrary to law.”
Furthermore, the court emphasized that imposing tariffs falls under the constitutional authority of Congress, and not the executive branch. The ruling is set to take effect on 14 October, giving the administration time to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
Trump had invoked the IEEPA, which grants the president powers to respond to unusual and extraordinary threats, as the legal basis for the tariffs. He had declared a national emergency related to trade, arguing that trade imbalances posed a threat to U.S. national security.
To remind, on 28 May, the U.S. Court of International Trade had ruled that the emergency law cited by the Trump administration did not authorize the imposition of tariffs on nearly every country globally, blocking those measures. However, that decision was shortly reversed by a federal appeals court, which reinstated one of the administration’s broadest tariff actions.
