Most Trump Tariffs Ruled Illegal by Appeals Court

A federal appeals court delivered a major blow to President Donald Trump on Friday, ruling that most of his tariffs are illegal.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. said Trump overstepped his authority when he imposed key sets of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The ruling undermines one of the president’s signature economic policies, but the court allowed the tariffs to stay in place until October 14. That deadline gives the Trump administration time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump has made tariffs central to his second term. He has used them as leverage to renegotiate trade deals and pressure foreign governments.

The court said the law Trump relied on does not grant him power to impose tariffs, Reuters reported.

“The statute bestows significant authority on the President to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax,” the ruling stated.

The decision does not affect all tariffs. It leaves untouched other measures issued under separate authority, such as Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.

The ruling specifically struck at what Trump called “reciprocal” tariffs imposed in April, and a separate batch of tariffs announced in February against China, Canada, and Mexico.

Trump has defended his actions by citing trade imbalances and the flow of fentanyl across U.S. borders. He declared a national emergency in April, saying that decades of trade deficits threatened both U.S. manufacturing and national security.

He also said tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico were justified because those countries were not doing enough to stop fentanyl from entering the United States. The countries rejected that claim.

The Justice Department has argued that the president has authority under IEEPA to regulate imports or block them entirely. But the court disagreed, saying Congress never intended to give a president open-ended tariff powers.

“It seems unlikely that Congress intended, in enacting IEEPA, to depart from its past practice and grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs,” the panel wrote. “The statute neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the President’s power to impose tariffs.”

The law, passed in 1977, had traditionally been used to freeze assets or impose sanctions on hostile powers. Trump was the first president to use it as justification for tariffs.

Two separate lawsuits brought the issue to court. One was filed by five small U.S. businesses. Another came from 12 Democrat-led states that argued IEEPA does not authorize tariffs.

Both cases emphasized that the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, authority over tariffs and taxes. They argued any delegation of that power must be limited and specific.

The New York-based U.S. Court of International Trade already ruled against Trump’s tariffs in May. A three-judge panel, which included a Trump appointee, said he had exceeded his authority.

Another court in Washington ruled the same way. At least eight lawsuits are now challenging the president’s tariff policies, including one filed by California.

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