US supreme court will now have to rule on issue of whether president overstepped authority in upending trade policy
Donald Trump overstepped his presidential powers with most of his globe-rattling tariff policies, a federal appeals court in Washington DC ruled on Friday.
US law “bestows significant authority on the president to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax”, the court said.
Many of Trump’s steep tariffs are “are unbounded in scope, amount and duration”, the ruling added, and “assert an expansive authority that is beyond the express limitations” of the law his administration has lent on.
The court’s decision is the biggest blow yet to Trump’s tariff policies and will likely mean that the supreme court will have to rule on whether he has the legal right as president to upend US trade policy. The court said the ruling wouldn’t take effect until 14 October.
