U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a chart while speaking during a “Make America Wealthy Again” trade announcement on April 2, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A federal court ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority with his reciprocal tariffs, dealing a blow to a major tenet of the president’s economic plan.
The judges wrote that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law that Trump invoked to justify the tariffs, does not actually give the president the power to implement the sweeping duties initiated last month.
“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs. The Trafficking Tariffs fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders,” the judges wrote.
The suit was brought on behalf of five U.S. businesses that rely on imports to some extent. The judges said that Trump’s tariff orders were “unlawful as to all,” not just those plaintiffs’ companies, so there would be “no question here of narrowly tailored relief.”
The judges ordered the challenged tariffs to be “vacated and their operation permanently enjoined.”
Lawyers for the White House could appeal the matter, but the case and decision put President Donald Trump’s economic agenda under pressure.
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