Last night, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously blocked all of the tariffs that President Trump imposed on countries in April to correct what he said were persistent trade imbalances. In its ruling, the Court said that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which President Trump invoked to impose the tariffs, does not authorize a president to levy universal duties on imports. The ruling also said that separate, specific tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China related to drug trafficking “fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders.” The Trump Administration immediately appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the case could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
