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A federal trade court has blocked President Donald Trump’s efforts to impose broad tariffs under emergency powers — ruling the move exceeded the authority granted to the president by the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade issued the decision Wednesday, siding with plaintiffs who argued that Trump’s use of tariffs — including the 10% tariffs imposed on April 2, ‘Liberation Day’ — violated U.S. law and created economic turmoil.
“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the court wrote in its ruling.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision.
Trump argued that the country’s longstanding trade deficits amounted to a national emergency, giving him the authority to act without congressional approval. Under his orders, tariffs were placed on a wide range of imports — including goods from Canada, China and Mexico.
His administration has also cited efforts to combat illegal immigration and the flow of synthetic opioids as reasons for the measures.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuits — including small businesses and a group of states led by Oregon — argued that the IEEPA does not authorize the use of tariffs, and that the trade deficit does not meet the law’s threshold for an “unusual and extraordinary threat.”
The administration has argued that courts upheld former President Richard Nixon’s emergency use of tariffs in 1971 and that only Congress — not the courts — has the authority to determine the legitimacy of a president’s rationale for declaring an emergency.
