An appeals court in Washington, DC, ruled on Friday that the are largely unconstitutional.
“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 US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said.
The court, however, also said the tariffs could remain in place until October 14, to allow the government to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Trump says ruling would ‘destroy’ the US
Trump contended that the ruling was “incorrect” and attacked the court for partisanship.
“ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT! Today a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end,” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social network. “If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country.
“If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America,” he added.
The US president has turned to tariffs on foreign goods as a means of putting pressure on countries that export goods to the United States.
Tariffs followed Trump’s declaration of emergency
Trump imposed the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president the power to address “unusual and extraordinary” threats during national emergencies.
Trump said in April that the US importing more than it exports constituted an emergency. The country has imported more for decades.
“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 ruling said. “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.”
Friday’s decision does not impact tariffs issued under other legal authority, such as Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Edited by Jon Shelton
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