US Court of Appeal delivers another slap in the face to Trump

The cat is among the pigeons.

The US Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit in Washington has delivered a 7-4 verdict that most of the tariffs that Donald Trump has imposed on most countries in the world (including Canada) are in fact illegal, upholding a May ruling of the Court of International Trade. Well, go figure!

The court, the majority of whose members happen to have been appointed by Democratic presidents past, ruled that Trump can not use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose "reciprocal" tariffs, because a US trade deficit, or even putative fentanyl coming in over the border, do not constitute the kinds of emergency the statute was designed for. The law does not even mention tariffs, and Trump's actions "exceed the authority" of the legislation, the court has found.

Well.

This does not affect the steel, aluminum, copper and automobile "sectoral" tariffs Trump has levied on Canada and some other countries, which were imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. (Courts have generally ruled that Section 232 tariffs ARE legal and a valid delegation of Congress' power to the President, although only for genuine national security threats.) But it does affect the general 35% tariff on non-CUSMA goods Canada is currently subject to. 

This puts into doubt the very centrepiece of Trump's protectionist economic strategy, and a major pillar of his domestic and foreign policy. As with so many of Trump's actions, he is operating at or beyond the bounds of legality and constitutionality.

Trump's response? "ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT! ... If allowed to stand, this decision would literally destroy the United States of America." Which, of course, is stupid - this decision would just return the United States of America to something closer to the status quo before he started messing with things - a perfectly functional and profitable country, richer and more powerful than any other country in the world. (This is all of a piece with Kristi Noem's claim that Los Angeles "would've burned down if left to the devices of the mayor and governor", and Peter Navarro's warning of "the end of the United States" if the tariffs are blocked. Untruths and exaggerations are the norm now in MAGA World, no-one expects anything different.)

Of course, a red-faced Trump immediately vowed to contest the ruling and will call on the much more Republican-friendly Supreme Court (many of whose members he appointed himself) to bail him out again. But you have to know that if they overturn this ruling, it will not be on legal basis, but a political one. God only knows what pressure Trump is putting on individual members of the Court right now. Watch for yet another 6-3 decision from them. 

UPDATE

In fact, Trump has now lost SIX major cases in just the last week, but he is not too concerned because he is relying on his pet Supreme Court justices to reverse any inconvenient rulings.