Appeals Court Rules DJT’s Tariffs Unlawful

The Court of Appeals for the Federal District ruled 7-4 to uphold a federal trade court ruling that it was unlawful for Donald Trump to declare national emergencies and use those to levy import tariffs against nearly every nation.

Trump used the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to claim emergency powers and levy the tariffs. IEEPA lends some Congressional powers to the President in a crisis. Historically it has been used to impose export restrictions and sanctions on adversaries of the USA, but not tariffs. In 1971 President Richard Nixon used the 1917 Trading With Enemy Act to levy tariffs in a genuine economic crisis triggered by abandoning the gold standard. When Trump was inaugurated, the USA economy was the envy of the world, the opposite of being in crisis.

The court allowed until mid-October, and unusually long wait, for the government to appeal to the Supreme Court before implementation of its ruling.

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