Trade Court Blocks Trump’s New Tariffs Imposed After Supreme Court Loss

The United States Court of International Trade has declared President Trump’s new global 10 percent tariffs illegal, dealing another defeat to the president who has sought to curb foreign imports in order to supposedly spur domestic manufacturing. The 10 percent tariff was set after the Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Trump had overstepped his authority in taxing domestic importers under the Trade Act of 1974. In February, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6–3 decision that the president had failed to “identify clear congressional authorization” for his “Liberation Day” tariffs and the subsequent unilateral changes to those import taxes. Just days later, Mr. Trump criticized members of the court during his State of the Union address as some of those same justices were sitting only feet away from him. Mr. Trump’s 10 percent global tariff was based on the premise that America was suffering from a “balance of payments” issue — something the Trade Court did not find was in line with Congress’s intent when it passed the Trade Act law in the 1970s. “[T]he Government seeks to defend the [tariff] by arguing that ‘balance-of-payments deficits’ is a malleable phrase,” the Trade Court writes in its opinion. “[T]he legislative history [of the Trade Act] chronicles a series of efforts to carefully cabin Presidential discretion.”The tariff was struck down in a 2–1 ruling by a three-judge panel of the International Court of Trade. Chief Judge Mark Barnett and Judge Claire Kelly — both nominees of President Obama — sided with plaintiffs to block the 10 percent tariff. Judge Timothy Stanceu, who was nominated by President George W. Bush and who took senior status in 2021, issued a dissent. “At various times in the nation’s history, and in various ways, Congress has delegated to the President the power to alter the tariff treatment of goods imported into the United States,” Judge Stanceu writes. He argued that Congress had, in fact, given the president — no matter who occupied the office — the power to address trade deficit issues with import tax authorities. The case will now almost certainly be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit — another court which, like the Court of International Trade — struck down Mr. Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs last year. The trade court has ordered the administration to begin refunding tariff revenue to the Americans importers who had suffered the cost of import taxes. The Supreme Court did not address the issue of reimbursements for last year’s sweeping tariffs, though the administration is beginning the process of refunding those surcharges to business impacted by the taxes. The administration has estimated that it will cost more than $150 billion to pay back more than 300,000 businesses for the revenue impacts of those tariffs.

Trade Court Blocks Trump’s New Tariffs Imposed After Supreme Court Loss

Trade Court Blocks Trump’s New Tariffs Imposed After Supreme Court Loss

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