A U.S. trade court has ruled against President Donald Trump’s temporary 10 percent global tariffs imposed under a 1970s trade law, delivering a legal victory to small businesses and several U.S. states challenging the measures.
The plaintiffs argued that the duties, announced Feb. 24, circumvented an earlier Supreme Court ruling that invalidated previous Trump tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
A coalition of 24 states — most led by Democrats — sued the Trump administration in an effort to block the tariffs. A three-judge panel in the specialized trade court began hearing oral arguments in early April.
The court ruled Thursday, May 7, in favor of the small businesses and states, finding that the administration had improperly used Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose the tariffs, according to Reuters. However, one of the judges cautioned that it was too early to declare a final victory for the plaintiffs.
Trump criticized the ruling and blamed it on what he called “two radical left judges.”
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“So, nothing surprises me with the courts. Nothing surprises me,” he told reporters, according to agency reports. “We get one ruling and we do it a different way.”
During the April hearings, Oregon attorney Brian Marshall urged the judges to block the tariffs, arguing the administration could repeatedly reimpose them to keep the measures in place indefinitely, Al Jazeera reported.
The tariffs were otherwise set to expire after 150 days, though critics argued the administration could extend them through successive actions.
“[If] we have a successive series where there’s always tariffs in place, that’s a problem,” Marshall said.
No universal injunction
The court declined to issue a universal injunction that would have blocked the tariffs for all importers nationwide.
“Private plaintiffs make no specific arguments for a universal injunction. Costs to one plaintiff is not an appropriate basis for the imposition of a universal injunction. Accordingly, the court declines to enter a universal injunction,” the ruling said, according to Reuters.
Instead, the tariffs were blocked only for two private importers and the state of Washington. The court said most of the plaintiff states — except Washington — were not direct importers responsible for paying the Section 122 tariffs.
Washington was included because it provided evidence that it paid the levies through the University of Washington, a public research institution.
Jay Foreman, CEO of toy company Basic Fun and one of the plaintiffs, welcomed the decision, saying it offers greater certainty for businesses operating through global supply chains.“This decision is an important win for American companies that rely on global manufacturing to deliver safe and affordable products,” Foreman said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera.
