A federal trade court halted Wednesday President Donald Trump’s attempt to impose broad tariffs on imports using an emergency-powers statute.
The decision, issued by a three-judge panel from the Court of International Trade in New York consisting of Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama and Donald Trump appointees, followed multiple lawsuits claiming that Trump overstepped his legal authority, destabilized U.S. trade policy, and triggered economic turmoil.
Currently, at least seven lawsuits are contesting the tariffs, which have been a central element of Trump’s trade agenda.
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Social media users including legal commentators welcomed the decision. Graham Steele, who is a fellow at Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance, wrote: “IEEPA grants the President a lot of authority, and this President still found a way to exceed that authority.”
“YOU CAN’T WIN IF YOU DON’T FIGHT. ANOTHER EXAMPLE. FIGHT,” writer Amanda Carpenter said in a post on the social platform BlueSky.
International Relations professor David Burbach wrote on Bluesky: “This could be gigantic, IIEPA’s grant of unilateral emergency trade powers to the President has been the loophole through which they are trying to shove the whole tariff thing. I’m sure this gets to SCOTUS.”
Legal journalist Chris Geidner posted one excerpt of the ruling to Bluesky in which the panel ruled that the tariffs were “unlawful to all,” writing: “After forcing challengers out of district courts, here’s how the specialty court slaps Trump around.”
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“Trump’s first-term [U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Lighthizer built a very careful legal strategy to ensure tariffs wouldn’t be overturned in court,” tweeted author and Columbia University researcher Eddie Fishman. “Second-term Trump admin hasn’t been so careful.”
Small business owner Aaron Rubin wrote on X: “Unless the government wins an emergency stay on appeal, CBP has to stop charging all reciprocal and fentanyl related tariffs and refund any paid duties.”
“So if you are a foreign government negotiating with the Trump administration about the IEEPA ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, and the tariffs have now been struck down (pending a probable appeal), it may be time to recalibrate your negotiating position,” China Trade Monitor co-founder Simon Lester tweeted.
AlterNet reached out to the White House for comment.
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