In a landmark ruling, a federal appeals court has found that Donald Trump’s global push for “reciprocal” tariffs was based on an unlawful use of presidential power. The decision strikes down his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to levy duties on nearly every country.
The court’s majority opinion argued that the IEEPA was not a grant of unlimited economic power to the president. The judges determined that the law’s purpose was to allow for targeted sanctions in genuine national emergencies, not to enable a president to single-handedly reshape U.S. trade policy.
The verdict has thrown the Trump administration’s network of informal trade deals into jeopardy. These understandings were reached under the threat of the tariffs that have now been declared illegal, potentially rendering the deals themselves unenforceable.
A final battle at the Supreme Court now looms. The case has become a pivotal test of the separation of powers, and the court’s decision will define the boundaries of presidential authority in the realm of international trade for years to come.