US court
halts Trump's tariffs
A USfederal court has halted President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, dealing a
severe blow to a key part of his economic policies.
The
International Trade Court ruled that the emergency law invoked by the WhiteHouse does not give the president unilateral authority to impose tariffs on
virtually all countries worldwide.
The
Manhattan-based court affirmed that the US Constitution grants Congress
exclusive powers to regulate trade with other countries, and the president's
responsibility to protect the economy does not supersede these powers.
"It's
not up to unelected judges to decide how to properly handle a national
emergency," White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai said in a
statement.
He added,
"President Trump pledged to put America first, and the administration is
committed to using all of its executive power to address this crisis and
restore America's greatness."
The
lawsuit—filed by the Center for Libertarian Justice, a nonpartisan
organization, on behalf of five small businesses importing goods from countries
targeted by the tariffs—was the first major legal challenge to Trump's
so-called "Freedom Day" tariffs.
The attorney
general of New York, one of the 12 states involved in the lawsuit, welcomed the
decision.
“The law is
clear: no president has the authority to unilaterally raise taxes at will,”
said Letitia James.
“These
tariffs represent a massive tax increase on working families and American
businesses, which would have led to further inflation, economic harm to
businesses of all sizes, and job losses across the country if allowed to
stand,” she added.
This case is
one of seven legal challenges to the Trump administration’s trade policies,
along with appeals from 13 US states and other small business groups.
In the
ruling, a three-judge panel said the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act (IEEPA)—a 1977 law that Trump cited to justify the tariffs—does not give
him the authority to impose them across the board.
“These
global and retaliatory tariff orders go beyond any authority granted to the
President under the IEEPA to regulate imports through tariffs,” they wrote.
“These tariffs fail to do their job because they do not address the threats
articulated in those orders.”
Global
financial markets have been volatile since Trump announced sweeping tariffs on
April 2, with some measures being rolled back or scaled back amid White House
negotiations with foreign governments.
Following
the US court's ruling, Asian stock markets rose on Thursday morning, with
Japan's Nikkei 225 index rising about 1.5 percent and Australia's ASX 200 index
rising slightly.
US stock
futures also rose after the court's ruling. Futures are contracts to buy or
sell an underlying asset at a future date and are an indicator of how markets
will trade at the open.
The US
dollar also gained against its safe-haven counterparts, including the Japanese
yen and the Swiss franc.
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