The tariff strategy employed by Donald Trump using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) has been declared unlawful by a federal appeals court. The ruling is a significant legal blow to his “America First” economic agenda and its reliance on unilateral executive action.
The court determined that the IEEPA, a law designed for sanctioning foreign adversaries during crises, was not a valid legal basis for imposing broad tariffs on trading partners. The judges rejected the administration’s expansive definition of “national emergency,” which included long-standing trade deficits.
This decision puts the many informal trade agreements struck by the Trump administration on precarious legal ground. Countries that agreed to quotas and other concessions to avoid these tariffs may now argue that those agreements are void, as they were made under the threat of an illegal act.
The case is now expected to land before the Supreme Court. It raises fundamental constitutional questions about the separation of powers and the extent to which a president can use emergency declarations to implement policies that would normally require legislative approval.