‘This Is a Huge Setback for Trump’: Trade Court Halts President’s Tariffs
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that President 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.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper reported the news on Wednesday’s AC360 on CNN, where he noted that White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller called the ruling a “judicial coup” on social media.
“Elie, is this a judicial coup?” Cooper asked. “What is this court?”
“No, this is a fully legitimate federal court,” Honig replied. “I should note this was a three-to-zero opinion. The three judges on this court were appointed by President Reagan, President Obama, and President Trump. So, I don’t know where they’re getting this ‘coup’ language from. This is a huge setback for Trump and his administration. As big a deal as the tariffs were, this is as big a deal in the opposite direction. It essentially pauses for now – rules illegal and unconstitutional – almost all of the tariffs that have been in place.”
Honig went on to note that Trump cited U.S. trade deficits when he invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, but that the court ruled that deficits do not constitute an emergency.
“That is not what the law means,” he said.
The ruling thrilled markets, as U.S. stock futures surged in the wake of the decision.
