Trump tariffs illegal, rules US court

A US federal appeals court ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump had no legal right to impose sweeping tariffs on almost every country on the earth but left in place for now his effort to build a protectionist wall around the American economy.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Trump wasn't legally allowed to declare national emergencies and impose import taxes on almost every country, a ruling that largely upheld a May decision by a specialised federal trade court in New York.

“It seems unlikely that Congress intended to ... grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs,” the judges wrote in a 7-4 ruling.

But they did not strike down the tariffs immediately, allowing his administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The President vowed to do just that. “If allowed to stand, this decision would literally destroy the United States of America,” Trump wrote on his social medial platform.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said Trump had acted lawfully, and "we look forward to ultimate victory on this matter.” The ruling complicates Trump's ambitions to upend decades of American trade policy completely on his own. Trump has alternative laws for imposing import taxes, but they would limit the speed and severity with which he could act. His tariffs — and the erratic way he's rolled them out — have shaken global markets, alienated US trading partners and allies and raised fears of higher prices and slower economic growth.

But he's also used the levies to pressure the European Union, Japan and other countries into accepting one-sided trade deals and to bring tens of billions of dollars into the federal Treasury to help pay for the massive tax cuts he signed into law July 4.

“While existing trade deals may not automatically unravel, the administration could lose a pillar of its negotiating strategy, which may embolden foreign governments to resist future demands, delay implementation of prior commitments, or even seek to renegotiate terms,” Ashley Akers, senior counsel at the Holland & Knight law firm and a former Justice Department trial lawyer, said before the appeals court decision.