Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariffs ruled illegal, but stay in place for now

The sweeping tariffs President Trump implemented on April 2 have been ruled illegal by a federal appeals court that said Trump did not have the power under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to levy tariffs. However, the court is allowing the tariffs to stay in place until a lower court rules on whether the ruling affects just those involved in the case or a larger group affected by the tariffs.

Trump imposed tariffs after declaring several national emergencies related to border security and drug trafficking. On April 2 he imposed 10% ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on imports from all countries, with steeper tariffs for China (34%), Taiwan (32%), South Korea (25%), and the European Union (20%). Since that time the tariff amounts have been repeatedly amended depending on the country, the goods imported and any trade deals reached. Deadlines for the tariffs have also been extended numerous times.

Trump’s tariffs were almost immediately challenged in a number of court cases and the decisions of those courts have sometimes then been appealed by the administration. This case was originally heard in the Court of International Trade, where they combined the ‘reciprocal’ and ‘trafficking’ tariffs into one case and deemed them illegal. The anticipated next step is for the Supreme Court to weigh in.

The judges wrote today: “We are not addressing whether the President’s actions should have been taken as a matter of policy. Nor are we deciding whether IEEPA authorizes any tariffs at all. Rather, the only issue we resolve on appeal is whether the Trafficking Tariffs and Reciprocal Tariffs imposed by the Challenged Executive Orders are authorized by IEEPA. We conclude they are not.”

Tariffs that Trump imposed on specific goods under different executive orders are not affected by this decision.

The judges today wrote: “Since taking office, President Donald J. Trump has declared several national emergencies. In response to these declared emergencies, the President has departed from the established tariff schedules and imposed varying tariffs of unlimited duration on imports of nearly all goods from nearly every country with which the United States conducts trade. This appeal concerns Five Executive Orders imposing duties on foreign trading partners to address these emergencies.”

The judges in this case wrote: “The government has not pointed to any statute or judicial decision that has construed the power to regulate as including the authority to impose tariffs without the statute also including a specific provision in the statute authorizing tariffs.”

“While the president of course has independent constitutional authority in these spheres, the power of the purse (including the power to tax) belongs to Congress,” the judges wrote.