Trump Orders Smacked Down In Blistering Ruling On Tariffs

President Donald Trump’s signature trade policy was smacked down by an appeals court in a blistering decision ruling most of his sweeping tariffs to be unconstitutional.

To paraphrase an adage, if you don’t like the news about tariffs in the Trump era, just wait a few minutes. Trump’s habit of whiplashing between issuing massive tariff threats and backing off of them even spawned the derisive Wall Street acronym TACO — “Trump Always Chickens Out” — to describe a “TACO trade” strategy to outsmart Trump’s chaotic market-roiling tariff policies.

Things took another turn when news broke Friday afternoon that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Trump did not have the constitutional authority to impose the sweeping import taxes that were announced earlier this summer. In the 7-4 decision, the judges wrote:

The Government appeals a decision of the Court of International Trade setting aside five Executive Orders that imposed tariffs of unlimited duration on nearly all goods from nearly every country in the world, holding that the tariffs were not authorized by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq. Because we agree that IEEPA’s grant of presidential authority to “regulate” imports does not authorize the tariffs imposed by the Executive Orders, we affirm.

Three of the judges in the 7-4 decision wrote in a separate concurring opinion:

We join the majority opinion in full. While we agree with the majority that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”), 50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq., does not grant the President authority to impose the type of tariffs imposed by the Executive Orders, Maj. Op. at 26–42, we write separately to state our view that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose any tariffs. In particular, we conclude that (1) the Government’s expansive interpretation of “regulate” is not supported by the plain text of IEEPA; (2) the Government’s reliance on the ratification of our predecessor court’s opinion in United States v. Yoshida Int’l, Inc., 526 F.2d 560 (CCPA 1975) (“Yoshida II”) does not overcome this plain meaning; and (3) the Government’s understanding of the scope of authority granted by IEEPA would render it an unconstitutional delegation.

Trump lashed out over the decision on Truth Social:

ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT! Today a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end. If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong. The U.S.A. will no longer tolerate enormous Trade Deficits and unfair Tariffs and Non Tariff Trade Barriers imposed by other Countries, friend or foe, that undermine our Manufacturers, Farmers, and everyone else. If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America. At the start of this Labor Day weekend, we should all remember that TARIFFS are the best tool to help our Workers, and support Companies that produce great MADE IN AMERICA products. For many years, Tariffs were allowed to be used against us by our uncaring and unwise Politicians. Now, with the help of the United States Supreme Court, we will use them to the benefit of our Nation, and Make America Rich, Strong, and Powerful Again! Thank you for your attention to this matter.

The ruling does hold off enforcement of the order until mid-October to allow time for the government to appeal the decision.