Donald Trump’s global tariffs face a crunch test in a federal appeals court on Thursday, just hours before the latest sweeping round of duties is set to kick in.
The full 11-strong bench of the US court of appeals for the federal circuit in Washington DC will consider whether the president exceeded his authority in imposing “reciprocal” tariffs on a large number of US trading partners.
In May a three-judge panel of the court of international trade blocked the import duties on grounds that Trump’s invocation of emergency powers under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was unjustified. The appeals court has stayed that ruling pending the outcome of Thursday’s hearing.
Trump posted about the hearing on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, calling it “America’s big case”. He said: “If our Country was not able to protect itself by using TARIFFS AGAINST TARIFFS, WE WOULD BE ‘DEAD,’ WITH NO CHANCE OF SURVIVAL OR SUCCESS.”
The challenge to Trump’s use of emergency powers has been brought by five small businesses acting alongside 12 Democratic-controlled states. They argue that the IEEPA was designed to address “unusual and extraordinary” threats arising in national emergencies, and that the reason for the tariffs do not meet that standard.
The small businesses are being represented by a libertarian public interest law firm, the Liberty Justice Center. The non-profit is supported by billionaire rightwing donors including Robert Mercer and Richard Uihlein, who, paradoxically, have also been major backers of Trump’s presidential campaigns.
