Court rules against tariff authority under IEEPA
Despite the US Court of International Trade overruling many of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, Section 232 duties on steel and aluminium remain in place. In a court ruling issued late Wednesday, May 28, Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, imposed on “Liberation Day” on April 2, were overturned. Also, the 25% ad valorem duties imposed on Mexico and Canada and 10% duties on China were overturned.
Trump justified the tariffs under the International Emergency Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA). But “the court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder,” the ruling said.
“Any interpretation of IEEPA that delegates unlimited tariff authority is unconstitutional,” the court added.
“The court holds for the foregoing reasons that IEEPA does not authorize any of the Worldwide, Retaliatory, or Trafficking Tariff Orders,” the ruling concluded. “The challenged Tariff Orders will be vacated and their operation permanently enjoined.”
Market response and lingering duties
The decree “has had a positive impact on global markets and by extension US sentiment,” a US-based source told Fastmarkets.
But the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium, which went into effect on March 12, remain in place.
Some market participants remain frustrated with the tariffs.
“All we can do is wait and see,” a distributor and former auto buyer told Fastmarkets. He believes that Trump will appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling. This move would allow reciprocal tariffs to go into effect.
Another source said they “are not feeling anything different” about the tariffs.
Trump administration appeals ruling
The Trump administration has already challenged the court’s overruling. The administration filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 28 following the decision.
Financial markets react to court decision
Financial markets reacted positively to the news. The Dow Jones Industrial average surged by over 500 points in the futures market on the news but fell back to a modest gain after the market opened at 9:30am.
The S&P 500 saw modest gains in the wake of the ruling, while Nasdaq rose significantly. Both indexes have since fallen.
The US dollar surged following the ruling but quickly lost the gains made, according to the US Dollar Index.
Robert England in Delaware, Amy Hinton and Daniel Hillard in Pennsylvania contributed to this story
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