Federal court blocks Trump's global tariffs on the grounds that they exceed his legal authority

A panel of judges at the US Court of International Tradefroze Wednesday much of the large-scale tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on nearly all foreign nations, after determining that such measures exceeded the Republican leader's legal authority. The decision halts the 10% tariffs applied to all of the country's trading partners last "Liberation Day," as well as additional tariffs imposed on Mexico, Canada and China, which the White House justified on the grounds of illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Over the past few months, the Trump Administration has defended its tariff onslaught by invoking the National Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, also known as IEEPA, which grants the U.S. president the authority to be able to regulate imports in emergency situations. Despite this, the court rejected that interpretation stating that it would be unconstitutional for any law to give the president such power to set tariffs.

"The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder," wrote the justices, who added that the 10% global tariffs are not authorized by the IEEPA because they seek to address imbalances, which represents an issue to be addressed by non-emergency legislation. The three judges, who were nominated by both Trump and former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, said the tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China were illegal as they "do not address the threats set forth in those orders".

Trump will appeal

The Trump Administration announced thatit will appeal the decision issued by the judges before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In a statement, White House spokeswoman Kush Desai strongly defended Trump's tariffs by arguing that the trade deficits experienced by the United States have "created a national emergency that has decimated American communities. 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."