A US federal court has blocked the majority of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff imports from going into effect, saying he had violated the rule of law and overstepped his authority with across-the-board global levies.
The judgement marks a significant setback to the US President, as he aimed to redraw the US trade partnerships with the world by forcing the governments to negotiate the trade tariffs. Trump's global trade war has sent global markets into chaos with on-and-off tariffs designed to punish the economies that sell more to the US than they buy in return. But the three-judge Court of International Trade effectively called a ceasefire, barring most of the restrictions that the president has announced since taking office.
White House criticised the decision -
Meanwhile, the White House expressed strong criticism of the judgement, arguing that "unelected judges" have no right to weigh in on Trump's actions to address what the administration frames as a "national emergency."
"President Trump pledged to put America first, and the administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American greatness," said Trump's spokesman, Kush Desai.
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The statement from the White House did not mention whether it was planning to challenge the ruling, though multiple US outlets said the Trump administration had already filed an appeal. Trump’s staunch supporter and his White House aide, Stephen Miller, was even more critical of the ruling, terming it a "judicial coup" that he said was "out of control."
Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on most trading partners on 2 April, with a baseline of 10 per cent, plus steeper duties on dozens of economies, including China and the European Union. The three-judge Court of International Trade was ruling in two separate cases -- brought by businesses and a coalition of state governments -- arguing that the president's actions violated the power of the purse given to Congress under the Constitution.
"The question in the two cases before the court is whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 ("IEEPA") delegates these powers to the president in the form of authority to impose unlimited tariffs on goods from nearly every country in the world," the three-judge panel wrote in an unsigned opinion.
However, the outcome of such a ruling has already created tensions in the global markets, as Brussels also threatened to hit US goods worth nearly 100 billion euros ($113 billion) with tariffs.
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Furthermore, Analysts also warn that the cost of the tariffs will likely be passed on to US consumers, raising inflation and potentially leading the US central bank to hold interest rates higher for longer, further impacting financial markets.
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