A United States Federal Court has blocked former president Donald Trump’s proposed ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, including a 10% duty that would have impacted Australian exports to the US.
In a ruling handed down on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), the US Court of International Trade found that Trump exceeded his presidential authority in attempting to invoke emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs.
“The court does not read the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder,” the three-judge panel wrote.
Legal doubts
The decision casts further doubt on the legal basis underpinning elements of Trump’s ‘America First’ trade strategy, which has faced multiple legal challenges over concerns it would increase costs for US consumers and businesses.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the ruling disrupts ongoing trade negotiations with more than a dozen nations, and complicates recent trade arrangements struck with the United Kingdom and China. The reciprocal tariffs had sparked widespread litigation, with the Court of International Trade hearing the first injunction requests after multiple federal lawsuits were lodged.
Appeals from this court are directed to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and may eventually be considered by the Supreme Court.
The Trump Administration has lodged a formal notice of appeal in response to the decision.