The North News
New Delhi, May 29
A United States federal trade court has declared President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime illegal, dealing a major blow to one of the most contentious aspects of his trade policy. The ruling, delivered by a three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade in New York, found that Trump had overstepped his executive authority by imposing tariffs without Congressional approval, the US-based news outlet The Guardian reported. The decision followed a series of legal challenges that accused the former president of treating trade policy as a personal tool, creating economic instability across global markets.
According to The Guardian, Trump had justified the tariffs by citing America’s large trade deficits as a national emergency. However, the court said that justification was not legally sound, ruling that the tariffs “exceed any authority granted to the president … to regulate importation by means of tariffs”. The tariffs formed a central pillar of Trump’s economic agenda during his presidency, aimed at pressuring trading partners, boosting domestic manufacturing, and reducing the U.S. trade deficit, which stood at $1.2 trillion in goods. The court’s ruling could significantly undermine that strategy, the news outlet said.
The Trump administration had urged a US court to uphold the president’s broad tariff powers, warning that overturning them could impact global diplomatic stability, NDTV reported. According to the report, government lawyers argued that any legal setback might disrupt what they described as an “asymmetric” trade truce with China and could even reignite tensions between India and Pakistan.
During the hearing, officials claimed that President Trump had used his tariff leverage in May to help broker a ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The move followed a deadly terror attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which was carried out by Pakistan-based terrorists. However, the US Court of International Trade rejected the argument, ruling that Trump’s use of tariffs exceeded the authority granted by law.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also dismissed suggestions of American involvement in the India-Pakistan ceasefire, stating that the decision was strictly bilateral. The ruling is being seen as a major blow to Trump’s strategy of using trade policy as a tool for international influence and crisis diplomacy.
