Court rules Trump overstepped authority on tariffs under emergency powers act

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority over tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

“The Constitution assigns Congress the exclusive powers to ‘lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises,’ and to ‘regulate Commerce with foreign Nations,’” the court opined. “The question in the two cases before the court is whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (“IEEPA”) delegates these powers to the President in the form of authority to impose unlimited tariffs on goods from nearly every country in the world.

“The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder,” the court continued.

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The three judges who ruled on the matter were appointed by former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, as well as Trump himself.

The Trump administration has appealed the court’s decision, Reuters reported.

The panel did not waste time in its decision and bypassed the plaintiff’s preliminary requests for temporary injunctive relief to get straight to the merits, vacating the tariffs and permanently enjoining them from enforcement.

“The court holds for the foregoing reasons that IEEPA does not authorize any of the Worldwide, Retaliatory, or Trafficking Tariff Orders. The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the panel wrote. “The Trafficking Tariffs fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders.

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“This conclusion entitles Plaintiffs to judgment as a matter of law; as the court further finds no genuine dispute as to any material fact, summary judgment will enter against the United States,” the panel concluded.

The Trump administration can appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, but in the meantime there will be uncertainty over what goods may be subject to tariffs and how the administration will react.

The White House told FOX Business that the Trump administration is committed to using every level of executive power to restore American greatness.

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“Foreign countries’ nonreciprocal treatment of the United States has fueled America’s historic and persistent trade deficits,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. “These deficits have created a national emergency that has decimated American communities, left our workers behind, and weakened our defense industrial base – facts that the court did not dispute. 

“It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency,” Desai continued. “President Trump pledged to put America First, and the Administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American Greatness.”

Trump announced his highly anticipated reciprocal tariff plan as part of his “Liberation Day” announcement April 2. 

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Trump announced customized tariffs on dozens of nations to help bring parity to what he said were decades of foreign nations installing trade barriers on U.S. goods, while also imposing a 10% baseline tariff on all countries.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

Reuters contributed to this report.