The Court of International Trade ruled that an emergency law invoked by the White House did not give the president unilateral authority to impose tariffs on nearly every one of the world’s countries.
The New York-based court said the US Constitution gave Congress exclusive powers to regulate commerce with other nations, and that this was not superseded by the president’s remit to safeguard the economy.
The White House has asked the court to block the order suspending tariffs while it appeals the case.
Who brought the court case?
The ruling was based on two separate cases. The nonpartisan Liberty Justice Center brought one case on behalf of several small businesses that import goods from countries that were targeted by the duties, while a coalition of US state governments also challenged the import taxes.
The two cases marked the first major legal challenges to Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs and went to the Court of International Trade, a part of the federal court system with specific authority over trade.
A three-judge panel ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that Trump cited to justify the tariffs, did not give him the power to impose the sweeping import taxes.
The court also blocked a separate set of levies the Trump administration imposed on China, Mexico and Canada, in response to what the administration said was the unacceptable flow of drugs and illegal immigrants into the US.
However, the court was not asked to address tariffs imposed on some specific goods like cars, steel and aluminium, which fall under a different law.
What has the reaction been so far?
The White House has criticised the ruling, though Trump has not yet commented directly.
“It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency,” White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai said in a statement.
But Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, one of 12 states involved in the lawsuit, welcomed the decision.
“The law is clear: no president has the power to single-handedly raise taxes whenever they like,” she said.
Stock markets in Asia and US rose in early trading on Thursday following the ruling while European markets opened flat.
Read the original article on bbc.com
