A US federal court has blocked US President Donald Trump’s global reciprocal trade tariffs from taking effect.

The US Court of International Trade has ruled that he overstepped his authority when he imposed the tariffs on nearly every country.

The three-judge panel ruled that Trump overstepped his powers granted by the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, after signing an Executive Order invoking its authority to increase the country’s competitive edge.

U.S. Federal Trade Court, comprising three-judge-panel, rules President Trump exceeded powers by imposing tariffs on countries around the world. https://t.co/SE87lDJzgK

— Sherwin Bryce-Pease (@sherwiebp) May 29, 2025

The Court said Trump’s Executive Order exceeded any authority granted the President to regulate imports by means of tariffs.

The Court also ruled that the trade deficit issue did not meet the law’s requirement that an emergency be triggered only by an unusual and extraordinary threat, which in the Court’s view, the trade deficits did not represent.

Tariffs or the threat thereof have been a signature economic and political tool of the Trump administration.

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