(The Hill)—A federal court ruled Wednesday that an emergency law does not provide President Trump with unilateral authority to impose tariffs on nearly every country, blocking a series of tariff announcements dating back to February that have rattled financial markets.
The three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously ruled Congress did not delegate “unbounded” tariff authority to the president in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), the linchpin of Trump’s legal defense.
“An unlimited delegation of tariff authority would constitute an improper abdication of legislative power to another branch of government,” the court wrote in its unsigned opinion.
“Regardless of whether the court views the President’s actions through the nondelegation doctrine, through the major questions doctrine, or simply with separation of powers in mind, any interpretation of IEEPA that delegates unlimited tariff authority is unconstitutional,” the opinion continued.
The Trump administration quickly appealed the decision Wednesday evening.
The IEEPA authorizes the president to impose necessary economic sanctions during an emergency to combat an “unusual and extraordinary threat.”
Trump has attempted to invoke the law to impose widespread tariffs by citing trade deficits and the threat posed by international drug cartels.
“Foreign countries’ nonreciprocal treatment of the Unites States has fueled America’s historic and persistent trade deficits,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.
“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,” Desai continued. “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency. 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.”
Wednesday’s ruling blocks Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs, which placed a 10 percent levy on all imports and higher, “reciprocal” tariffs for dozens of countries. It also blocks earlier orders that imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. Many had already been adjusted as or delayed as stocks fell and Treasury yields rose in the wake of Trump’s trade shifts.
The judges gave the Trump administration 10 days to issue any administrative orders needed to effectuate their ruling.
The three-judge panel comprised Judge Timothy Reif, a Trump appointee; Judge Jane Restani, an appointee of former President Reagan; and Judge Gary Katzmann, an appointee of former President Obama.
The decision came in response to two separate lawsuits, part of a broader wave of litigation challenging Trump’s tariffs.
One filed by a group of small businesses specifically focused on Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement, but the other brought by a group of Democratic state attorneys general, led by Oregon, challenged a broader set of tariffs.
Before ruling that the IEEPA does not authorize Trump’s tariffs, the court rejected the administration’s threshold arguments, including that the president’s orders are a political question not subject to the courts’ review.
“This reliance on the political question doctrine is misplaced,” the unanimous panel wrote.
Author: Zach Schonfeld