By Dietrich Knauth and Daniel Wiessner
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. federal court on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs from going into effect, ruling that the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from nations that sell more to the United States than they buy.
The Manhattan-based Court of International Trade said the U.S. Constitution gives the U.S. Congress exclusive powers to regulate commerce with other countries that are not trumped by the president’s emergency powers to safeguard the U.S. economy.
The lawsuit, filed by the nonpartisan Liberty Justice Center on behalf of five small U.S. businesses that import goods from countries targeted by the duties, was the first major legal challenge to Trump’s tariffs.
The companies – which range from a New York wine and spirits importer to a Virginia-based maker of educational kits and musical instruments – have said the tariffs will hurt their ability to do business.
The lawsuit is one of seven court challenges to Trump’s tariff policies, along with challenges from 13 U.S. states and other groups of small businesses.
(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth and Daniel Wiessner; Editing by Sandra Maler)
