The US Court of International Trade has ruled against President Donald Trump\u2019s latest 10% global tariffs, finding that the across-the-board duties were not justified under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.<\/p>\n
The 2-1 ruling marks another setback for Trump\u2019s tariff strategy and comes only months after the US Supreme Court struck down the administration\u2019s earlier tariffs imposed under emergency powers legislation.<\/p>\n
The tariffs, introduced on 24 February, were challenged by two small importers \u2014 toy company Basic Fun! and spice importer Burlap & Barrel \u2014 together with several US states. The plaintiffs argued the administration was attempting to bypass the Supreme Court\u2019s earlier decision by relying on a different legal mechanism.<\/p>\n
Section 122 allows temporary duties of up to 15% for a maximum of 150 days in cases involving serious balance-of-payments deficits or threats to the US dollar. However, the trade court found that the law was not intended for the type of trade deficits cited by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
Despite the ruling, the tariffs will remain in place for most importers while the appeals process continues. The court limited relief to the plaintiffs involved in the case and to the state of Washington.<\/p>\n
Trump criticised the decision after the ruling, blaming what he called \u201cradical left judges\u201d and signalling that the administration would continue pursuing alternative tariff options.<\/p>\n
The White House is now expected to focus on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a more established trade enforcement mechanism targeting unfair trade practices. Several Section 301 investigations are already underway and are expected to conclude in July.<\/p>\n
Trade lawyers say the latest ruling could trigger additional refund claims from importers if the tariffs are eventually overturned entirely.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n