The Court Deals Blow to Trump's Tariffs

US President Donald Trump faces a fight to keep trade tariffs after a domestic trade court ruled he lacks the authority to impose them. The Court of International Trade set the tariffs aside after determining legislation employed by Trump to impose them did not meet the standard required to allow him to overrule the power of the nation’s Congress over tax and duty matters.

The US administration immediately appealed the court decision, setting up a fight for the future of the controversial fees. The court stated that the importance of tariffs declined significantly since 1913, when the US was cleared to impose income taxes as an alternative means of raising revenue. It argued the increasingly global nature of commerce means tariffs have served more diverse purposes including restricting the importation of certain goods, though appeared to acknowledge their role in protecting American industry and leveraging negotiations with foreign counterparts, an element the president’s team may well emphasize given a brace of trade deals struck after the levies were announced.

A representative for the US White House said the nation faces damaging trade deficits, creating an emergency that courts are not best placed to address. Trump can fight the ruling in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and push the matter to the nation’s Supreme Court, the highest in the land. The trade court ruled on lawsuits filed by two groups, one comprising a quartet of small businesses, the other a collective of US states. There are at least five more legal challenges to the tariffs in the wings. Duties on imports of vehicles, steel, and aluminum are reportedly excluded from the trade court’s ruling.