New York — A divided US appeals court ruled on Friday that most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, undercutting the Republican president’s use of the levies as a key international economic policy tool.
The court allowed the tariffs to remain in place until October 14 to give the Trump administration a chance to file an appeal with the Supreme Court. The decision addressed the legality of what Trump calls reciprocal tariffs and does not affect tariffs issued under other legal authority, such as Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
It comes as a legal fight over the independence of the Federal Reserve also seems bound for the Supreme Court, setting up an unprecedented legal showdown this year over Trump’s entire economic policy.
He has made tariffs a pillar of US foreign policy in his second term, using them to exert political pressure and renegotiate trade deals with countries that export goods to the US. The tariffs have given the Trump administration leverage to extract economic concessions from trading partners but have also increased volatility in financial markets.
Trump lamented the decision by what he called a “highly partisan” court, posting on Truth Social: “If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country.” He nonetheless predicted a reversal, saying he expected tariffs to benefit the country “with the help of the Supreme Court.”
Reuters
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