On 28 May 2025 in New York, the US Court of International Trade ruled that US president Donald Trump’s so-called ‘Liberation Day’ global tariffs were beyond the president’s authority.
Judges found that the worldwide and retaliatory tariff orders issued by Trump “exceed any authority granted to the president by International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to regulate importation by means of tariffs”.
The IEEPA is a US law that grants the president authority to regulate commerce in response to unusual and extraordinary threats to national security, foreign policy or the economy originating from outside the US.
Trump declared a state of national emergency on 2 April 2025, during what he referred to as ‘Liberation Day’. He described the signing of this executive order as the US’ “declaration of economic independence”.
But the US Court of International Trade has ruled that the IEEPA, which Trump cited – alongside the National Emergencies Act – when he issued the executive order on ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, does not give a president the authority to take the action he did on 2 April.
Following this judgement, the federal court has given the Trump administration 10 days to comply. However, the White House reportedly filed an appeal against the judgement just minutes after it was handed down.
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, reacted to the news on X, writing: “The judicial coup is out of control.”
The judicial coup is out of control. https://t.co/PRRZ1zU6lI
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) May 28, 2025
In addition, White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai said in a statement: “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency.”
As yet, president Trump has not directly addressed the judgement in a statement.
It remains to be seen how this might affect the recently-announced UK-US trade deal. In a statement, the UK government said: “We are working to ensure that businesses can benefit from the deal as quickly as possible and will confirm next steps in due course.”
