The American trade court declared illegal the 10% tariffs on foreign goods imposed by Donald Trump.
The U.S. Court of International Trade has ruled that the 10% global tariffs on foreign imports imposed by President Donald Trump are illegal, marking another blow to the administration's economic agenda just months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned previously imposed tariffs, Bloomberg reports.
The tariffs that were previously imposed and overturned by the Supreme Court on February 20 were enacted under a different law - the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In that case, the judges ruled that Trump exceeded his authority, leading to a legal battle for importers seeking refunds of nearly $170 billion.
At that time, Trump imposed the 10% tariffs in February under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which had never been applied before.
However, the court now found that the president exceeded his authority and did not have the right to impose tariffs under the new scheme that the Administration used instead of the old one.
On Thursday, a panel of three judges in the U.S. Court of International Trade in Manhattan granted a motion from a group of small businesses and two dozen states, predominantly led by Democrats, to overturn the tariffs.
This decision dealt another blow to the president's attempts to impose tariffs without Congressional involvement. The U.S. Department of Justice may appeal the latest ruling of the trade court to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which ruled against the Trump administration during the previous tariff war.
The court's decision is seen as another serious setback for Trump's economic policy and his attempts to unilaterally change U.S. trade rules, according to bb.lv. The administration may still appeal the verdict, so the legal battle over the tariffs is likely to continue.
