By Mariane Angela
A federal appeals court has struck down down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, ruling that his administration overstepped its legal authority by invoking emergency powers to impose duties on goods. The ruling, however, does not take effect immediately. It only goes into effect on October 14.
A lower court had temporarily blocked Trump’s emergency tariff orders in May, ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the sweeping reciprocal tariffs he imposed in April. (Those tariffs are not actually “reciprocal,” because they are a lot higher in most cases than other nations’ tariffs).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Aug. 29 upheld that lower court decision invalidating five executive orders that levied tariffs under the IEEPA.
Writing for the majority, the judges said that the IEEPA’s authorization to “regulate importation” does not grant the president the power to unilaterally impose taxes on trade. The dispute centered on two sets of tariffs issued early in 2025.
The first, dubbed the “Trafficking Tariffs,” followed Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southern border. Citing the flow of opioids and criminal activity from Mexico, Canada, and China, Trump ordered 25% duties on nearly all Mexican and Canadian imports and a 10% duty on Chinese goods, later raised to 20%. (RELATED: Jonathan Turley Says Trump Has Authority To Slap Tariffs On World)
The second package, the “Reciprocal Tariffs,” was broader. In April 2025, Trump imposed a baseline 10% duty on imports from almost every U.S. trading partner, with additional duties ranging up to 50% depending on the country. China’s rate was ratcheted up as high as 125% before being rolled back during negotiations.
These tariffs were to remain in place indefinitely, subject only to presidential modification. The orders prompted lawsuits from both private companies and a coalition of 12 states. They said that Congress, not the White House, holds the constitutional power to impose tariffs and that Trump’s actions far exceeded any authority delegated under IEEPA.
Trump responded on Truth Social and claimed the decision was incorrect. He claimed that removing the tariffs would devastate the country and vowed to defend them by appealing to the Supreme Court.
The Trump administration faced several lawsuits after the president’s April “Liberation Day” announcement. Shortly after, Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all tariffs except those targeting China, citing its retaliation against the United States.
Trump has been actively negotiating tariff agreements, granting Mexico more time to strike a deal following what he called a “very successful” call with President Claudia Sheinbaum. While the U.S. and China extended a temporary trade truce to avoid returning to April’s 100% tariff levels, Trump doubled tariffs on India to 50% in response to its Russian oil purchases, potentially straining relations with a key U.S. ally.
Earlier Trump tariffs on aluminum and steel reduced manufacturing employment by increasing the cost of the aluminum and steel used by U.S. manufacturers, resulting in the loss of more than 70,000 jobs in manufacturing.
