A federal court dealt another blow to President Donald Trump's trade agenda, ruling against a 10% global tariff the president imposed this year to replace tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court.
A panel of judges for the Court of International Trade ruled 2-1 that Trump couldn't use the 1974 Trade Act to impose the 10% levy. The court only blocked the tariffs on two businesses and Washington state, which brought the lawsuit, but the decision could prompt more legal challenges.
The Trade Act allows temporary tariffs for up to 150 days to address significant "balance of payments deficits," but the court ruled that the law wasn't appropriate for the kinds of trade deficits cited in Trump's February order.
The ruling comes after the Supreme Court overturned a pillar of Trump's second term agenda. It declared his use of emergency powers to enact tariffs was unconstitutional. Trump had cited the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to enact sweeping levies in a bid to reorder trading relationships with countries around the globe.
Tariffs have been central to Trump's economic policy, with the president wielding the levies as a weapon to push for new trade deals. He lashed out at the Supreme Court after its Feb. 20 order against his emergency tariffs, calling the ruling "deeply disappointing."
