U.S. court blocks Trump’s tariffs, citing presidential overreach

A US federal court has blocked President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, in a major blow to a key part of his economic policies

The Court of International Trade ruled that the emergency law invoked by the White House did not give the President unilateral authority to impose tariffs on nearly every country.

The BBC reports that the Court has also blocked the separate levies the US government imposed on China, Mexico and Canada. However, within minutes the Trump administration lodged an appeal, saying: “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency”

Read more: Trump confronts Ramaphosa over white farmer killings in tense White House exchange

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five small businesses that import goods from abroad.

The court has given the White House 10 days to complete the bureaucratic process of halting the tariffs, although most were currently suspended anyway.

But the court’s ruling needs to go through an appeals process, including all the way to the Supreme Court and if all courts do uphold the ruling, businesses who have had to pay tariffs will receive refunds on the amounts paid, with interest.

These include the so-called reciprocal tariffs, which were lowered to 10 percent across the board for most countries and were up to almost 150 percent on Chinese products, now 30 percent.

WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.