US Court Rejects Trump's 10 Percent Global Tariff

Tokyo (ANTARA) - A US trade court on Thursday (7/5) ruled to reject the newly imposed 10 percent global tariff by President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year, delivering another blow to one of the pillars of his economic agenda. The tariff took effect in February to replace what was called Trump’s reciprocal import duties targeting nearly all US trading partners, as well as fentanyl-related duties he applied to goods from China, Canada, and Mexico, after the Supreme Court overturned them. Trump announced the across-the-board duties based on different legal authority, right after the highest court invalidated the country-specific tariffs he imposed on 20 February. However, in a 2-1 decision, a federal judge panel at the US Court of International Trade in New York found that the government’s use of Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose the 10 percent tariff had no legal basis. The act allows the president to impose duties of up to 15 percent for a maximum period of 150 days to address a “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficit. No president has ever used Section 122 to impose tariffs. Last year, Trump used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to implement substantial two-digit tariffs without congressional approval. That Supreme Court decision stated that Trump exceeded presidential authority by using the emergency act, as taxation is a power listed in the constitution for the legislative branch. Source: Kyodo