The United States Court of International Trade ruled President Donald Trump can’t use a 1977 law to impose tariffs, dealing a blow to his trade agenda.
Trump declared a national emergency to invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and impose tariffs on foreign nations.
The unanimous ruling from the three-judge panel states the IEEPA “does not authorize” Trump’s tariffs and orders them halted.
The ruling notes that the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the authority to impose tariffs.
“The question… is whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act… delegates these powers to the President in the form of authority to impose unlimited tariffs on goods from nearly every country in the world,” the ruling states. “The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder.”
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.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The judicial coup is out of control,” Trump Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote on social media in response to the ruling.
More: How Trump’s clash with the courts is brewing into an ‘all-out war’
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trade court blocks most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs
