Appeals Court Strikes Down Sweeping Trump Tariffs, Setting Up Battle At Supreme Court

A federal appeals court on Friday ruled against many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, saying the president abused his authority under the emergency powers he cited to enact them.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled 7-4 that Trump overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). While the court struck down most of Trump’s sweeping tariff regime, it delayed implementation of its order until October 14 to give time for the administration to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

“We are unpersuaded by the Government’s argument that it is ‘particularly inappropriate to construe narrowly a delegation of power in the arena of foreign affairs and national security,’” the court wrote. “While the President of course has independent constitutional authority in these spheres, the power of the purse (including the power to tax) belongs to Congress.”

“Absent a valid delegation by Congress, the President has no authority to impose taxes. Given these considerations, we conclude Congress, in enacting IEEPA, did not give the President wide-ranging authority to impose tariffs of the nature of the Trafficking and Reciprocal Tariffs simply by the use of the term ‘regulate … importation,’” the ruling states.

The decision sets up the possibility that the United States may have to pay back billions of dollars of duties that have been taken in under Trump’s tariff regime, according to Politico.

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The ruling could nullify sweeping tariffs the president placed on dozens of countries as part of his Liberation Day tariff announcement. It would also rescind tariffs that Trump has unilaterally placed on Canada, China, and Mexico during ongoing negotiations around immigration and drug trafficking.

Trump responded to the ruling in a post on Truth Social, blaming a “Highly Partisan Appeals Court” for an “incorrectly” decided case. The president said that “it would be a total disaster for the Country” if his tariffs were canceled.

“The U.S.A. will no longer tolerate enormous Trade Deficits and unfair Tariffs and Non Tariff Trade Barriers imposed by other Countries, friend or foe, that undermine our Manufacturers, Farmers, and everyone else,” wrote Trump. “If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America.”

The appeals court ruling follows a ruling from a federal trade court in May that found similarly that Trump had overstepped his bounds in invoking the IEEPA.

The appeals court ruling noted that never before had the IEEPA been invoked to impose tariffs on imports.

“The invocation of IEEPA to impose tariffs on nearly every country in the world is undoubtedly a significant departure from these previous invocations,” it said, before adding that the lack of precedent is an indication that the president may have overstepped.