A court ruled yesterday (Thursday) that the temporary 10% tariffs imposed in February by President Donald Trump are illegal, to replace earlier across-the-board, sliding surcharge tariffs that the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated.
According to the verdict announced by the federal International Trade Tribunal (ITC), the US government cannot rely on a 1974 law to rebalance the trade exchanges of the US and its partners by imposing tariffs indiscriminately.
This is a new heavy blow for the Republican leader, who from the first day of his second term, January 2025, has put customs tariffs at the heart of his policy, along with threats to impose heavier ones, in order to secure the trade-offs–not exclusively economic–that he wants.
Based on yesterday’s 2-1 decision of the three-judge court, the 10% surcharge does not comply with the law. Consequently, the three companies which had appealed to the ITC are no longer subject to such surcharges.
The court even called on the government of the USto compensate them, with interest, for the undue duties paid over the past two months.
Although this decision–which can be appealed–is limited, for now at least, to the three plaintiff companies, it sets a legal precedent that will allow many others to take their turn in the courtrooms to challenge President Trump’s tariffs.
