Most Trump Tariffs Ruled Unlawful by U.S. Appeals Court

Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House.

A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that most of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s global tariffs are unlawful, dealing a major blow to the foundation of his combative trade policy.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined in a 7–4 ruling that the legislation invoked by President Trump when he imposed his most expansive tariffs — including his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs — did not, in fact, grant him the authority to introduce those duties.

“The core Congressional power to impose taxes such as tariffs is vested exclusively in the legislative branch by the Constitution,” the court stated. “Tariffs are a core Congressional power.”

The appellate court delayed the implementation of its ruling until 14 October 2025 to give the Trump administration time to petition the Supreme Court to overturn the decision.

President Trump later on Friday criticised the appeals court as “Highly Partisan” and claimed that the Supreme Court would rule in his favour.

“If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country,” President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America.”

“The President’s tariffs remain in effect, and we look forward to ultimate victory on this matter,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a separate statement.

Friday’s ruling marks the second consecutive defeat for President Trump in the pivotal case, V.O.S. Selections v. Trump.

The case was consolidated from two separate lawsuits — one brought by a coalition of twelve states and the other by five small American businesses.

It is the furthest advanced of more than half a dozen federal suits challenging Mr Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to enforce sweeping tariffs.

The Trump administration has contended that IEEPA grants the president authority to impose country-specific tariffs at any level if deemed necessary to address a national emergency.

In late May, however, the US Court of International Trade rejected that argument and struck down Mr Trump’s IEEPA-based tariffs, including his global reciprocal tariffs. That ruling also annulled tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico and China, which the Trump administration had justified on the grounds of combating the alleged trafficking of fentanyl into the United States.

The Federal Circuit swiftly stayed that ruling while President Trump’s appeal was heard. Nonetheless, several appellate judges appeared highly sceptical of the administration’s reasoning during oral arguments in late July.

In Friday’s decision, the court held that the contested tariffs exceeded Mr Trump’s statutory powers under IEEPA.

“Both the Trafficking Tariffs and the Reciprocal Tariffs are unbounded in scope, amount, and duration,” the majority ruled.

“These tariffs apply to nearly all goods imported into the United States (and, in the case of the Reciprocal Tariffs, to almost all countries), impose high and fluctuating rates which exceed those provided for in the US tariff system, and are unlimited in duration.”

The four dissenting judges disagreed with the majority’s conclusion on the legality of the tariffs, arguing that the plaintiffs had failed to justify their demand for summary judgment in their favour.

The appeal was heard by 11 of the 12 judges on the Federal Circuit. The twelfth judge, Pauline Newman, did not participate, as she has been suspended from her duties since 2023. Newman, 98, is engaged in a protracted dispute with the court after resisting a request that she undergo a cognitive evaluation in order to continue hearing cases.

The ruling came just hours after President Trump’s senior trade negotiators urged the judges to consider what they described as “supplemental developments” in the case, including a Congressional Budget Office projection that tariffs would reduce US deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade.

Overturning President Trump’s IEEPA-based tariffs “would cause massive and irreparable harm to the United States and its foreign policy and national security both now and in the future,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick argued in a statement to the court.

“Such a ruling would jeopardise broader U.S. strategic interests at home and abroad, likely provoke retaliation and the collapse of agreed deals with foreign trading partners, and derail critical ongoing negotiations,” he added.

Source: CNBC



PUKMEDIA