US Appeals Court Rules Most Trump Tariffs Illegal

NEW YORK – A U.S. appeals court on Friday struck down most of Donald Trump’s tariffs, ruling 7-4 that the former president exceeded his authority by using emergency powers to impose levies on trading partners.

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals said Trump’s reliance on the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was unlawful, noting the law was designed for sanctions and asset freezes, not tariffs.
“It seems unlikely that Congress intended … to grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs,” the court wrote.

The tariffs will remain in place until Oct. 14 to allow Trump’s administration to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, setting up a high-stakes legal showdown over the core of Trump’s second-term economic strategy.

Trump, who has made tariffs a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, denounced the ruling as partisan but predicted the Supreme Court would side with him: “If these tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the country,” he posted on Truth Social.

The ruling affects Trump’s so-called “reciprocal” tariffs and separate levies on China, Canada and Mexico. Tariffs on steel and aluminum, imposed under different statutes, remain intact.

Legal experts said the administration has been preparing “Plan B” to preserve the tariffs under other laws. Still, the decision adds uncertainty for businesses and markets already unsettled by Trump’s aggressive trade policies.

The case is expected to converge with another legal battle over Trump’s attempt to oust a Federal Reserve governor, raising the prospect of the Supreme Court weighing in on the future of both U.S. trade and monetary policy this year.