A US federal court has ruled that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority when he invoked a section of a 1974 trade law to implement a 10 percent global tariff policy.
The US Court of International Trade dealt a fresh blow to the president’s tariff strategy, declaring that the new levies were unlawful, reports AP.
The temporary duties were imposed in February under a national emergency law, shortly after the Supreme Court struck down even broader double-digit tariffs that the president had levied in 2025 on most nations.
In a 2-1 ruling, the New York-based panel of judges found that the administration lacked the justification to enact these tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act 1974.
Most of the three-judge panel wrote in the ruling that the tariffs were “invalid” and “unauthorised by law”.
However, the third judge found that the law allows the US president more leeway regarding tariffs, adding that it was premature to grant victory to the plaintiffs.
Limited immediate impact
The court’s decision directly blocked the levies from being implemented against the state of Washington and two private importers – a spice company and a toy company. Despite the ruling, the federal court declined to issue a universal injunction, leaving the temporary tariffs in place for all other importers until they expire in July.
The request to block the tariffs had been brought by a group of 24 states, mostly led by the Democrats, but the court ruled those states did not have the standing to seek such relief.
The court stated that private plaintiffs had made no specific arguments for a universal injunction and that costs to a single plaintiff were not an appropriate basis for such a measure.
Refunds and appeals
Following a Supreme Court ruling in February that declared a previous set of sweeping global tariffs unconstitutional, businesses have been scrambling to seek refunds.
According to March figures from the US Customs and Border Protection, more than 330,000 importers could be eligible for refunds. The earlier tariffs that were struck down had collected an estimated of $166 billion (around €142 billion) in duties and deposits.
The Trump administration may now appeal the decision, first to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington and potentially to the Supreme Court again.
Responding to the setback, US President Trump criticised the decision in Washington, blaming it on “two radical left judges”. “So, nothing surprises me with the courts. Nothing surprises me,” he told the media, adding, “We get one ruling and we do it a different way”.
