A U.S. federal court struck down President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on a wide range of countries, saying his effort to justify them with broad claims of national emergencies exceeded his legal authority.
The unanimous ruling of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade strikes a blow to one the central planks of Trump’s economic agenda at a time he is seeking to use tariffs as leverage to strike trade deals around the world.
“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the New York-based federal court said in its opinion, referring to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The court also ordered that the tariffs that the Trump administration has collected so far be “vacated.”
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
