The Chaos Presidency takes another turn:
A federal appeals court on Friday struck down President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers granted by Congress to impose tariffs, opening the door for the administration to potentially have to repay billions worth of duties.
The 7-4 ruling raises doubt about deals Trump has struck with the European Union, Japan, South Korea and other major trading partners to reduce the “reciprocal” tariff rates on their imports, from the levels the administration originally set in April.
“We conclude Congress … did not give the president wide-ranging authority to impose tariffs” of the kind Trump imposed in his sweeping executive orders, the majority wrote.
The ruling also invalidates the tariffs that Trump has imposed on China, Canada and Mexico to pressure those countries to do more to stop shipments of fentanyl and precursor chemicals from entering the United States.
The decision, however, will not take effect until Oct. 14, giving the Trump administration time to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Trump shared a post on social media Friday evening calling the ruling “highly partisan,” and warning that if the tariffs were ruled illegal “it would be a total disaster for the Country” and “make us financially weak.”
“Now, with the help of the United States Supreme Court, we will use them to the benefit of our Nation, and Make America Rich, Strong, and Powerful Again!” Trump wrote, signaling that the White House will appeal, as expected...
"With the help of the United States Supreme Court," indeed. His partners in crime/ co-conspirators in robes who want to further empower their Unitary Executive may well roll over for him as they have in the past. In the meantime, the regime has a month and a half to continue its ruinous, inflationary tariffs.
And,
BOOM. The federal appeals court rules Trump's tariffs illegal, because they are. There's no national emergency, and so the power to tariff a country rests with Congress. Trump admin has lost at every stage of the process, but stay tuned for the Supremes to chime in.
— Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) August 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
[image or embed]
This won't end all tariffs. This ruling applies to tariffs applied to entire countries (which is most of the tariff agenda). The industry-specific tariffs use a different legal authority, and will remain. The White House has other (more limited) tariff powers it'll dust off.
— Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) August 29, 2025 at 5:49 PM
The markets here and abroad will certainly respond well to the lack of certainty! In the meantime, enjoy the higher prices!
The US is in a goodly number of trade pacts. If they were treaties then they would have made any tariffs illegal; seems like they required some Congressional action to approve them in some way which also ought to make it illegal to break them willy-nilly.
ReplyDelete