US Court Blocks Trump's Sweeping Tariffs, Says President 'Overstepped' His Authority

The Court of International Trade cited the Constitution, stating Congress has exclusive power over foreign commerce, not overridden by presidential emergency powers.

A US court blocked Trump's tariffs, ruling he exceeded his authority by imposing duties on imports from countries with trade surpluses with the US.

Source : X

A US court has blocked President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs from taking effect. In a Wednesday ruling, the court ruled that the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from countries that sell more to the United States than buy from it. 

The Court of International Trade, Manhattan, observed that the US Constitution gives Congress exclusive authority to regulate commerce with other countries that are not overridden by the president's emergency powers to safeguard the country's economy, reported Reuters.

A three-judge panel, delivering the judgment said, "The court does not pass upon the wisdom or likely effectiveness of the President's use of tariffs as leverage. That use is impermissible not because it is unwise or ineffective, but because [federal law] does not allow it."

Minutes later, the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal against the court order. 

The court ruling came on a couple of lawsuits including one by the nonpartisan Liberty Justice Centre on behalf of five small U.S. businesses that import goods from countries targeted by the duties and the other by 13 U.S. states.

Trump's Sweeping Tariffs 

On April 5, Trump termed the trade deficit a national emergency and levied a 10 per cent across-the-board tariff on all imports from around 60 countries. Countries with which the US has the largest trade deficit were hit with a higher percentage of tariff, particularly China at 145 per cent. 

India was also on the list, hit with an import duty of initially 27 per cent and later brought down to 26 per cent. 

The announcement threw the global markets in a frenzy with indices in many Asian markets tumbling down more than 10 per cent. 

A week later, many of the country-specific tariffs were paused and the Trump administration said on May 12 that it was also temporarily reducing the steepest tariffs on China and working on a longer-term trade deal.