A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Donald Trump overreached when he unilaterally imposed tariffs on imports from more than 100 countries. CNN’s Elie Honig called the development “a huge setback” for the president.
In a unanimous decision issued on Wednesday, judges halted the president’s tariffs with a permanent injunction. The ruling nullifies Trump’s 30% tariff on Chinese goods, the 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, and the baseline 10% tariffs Trump imposed on most countries on April 2, or “Liberation Day,” as he called it. In issuing those tariffs, Trump bypassed Congress by citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Tariffs on automobiles and steel will remain.
The lawsuit was filed by Liberty Justice Center, a libertarian legal advocacy group.
Lets pause for a moment and consider how dumb this situation makes Trump look on the world stage. He’s picks a fight with the entire world over tariffs, and obnoxiously demands that everyone comply with his wishes under the pain of losing trade. Then, a court rules that he never had the power to issue the tariffs in the first instance and voids them. The “deals” he’s supposedly struck now are worthless, and the countries that held out and didn’t bend to Trump’s whim have won. The only country harmed by the tariffs is the United States. It’s like starting a fight by punching yourself in the face.