A Federal American Appeal Court ruled on Friday that a large part of the customs duties imposed by Donald Trump were illegal, a great setback for a pillar of his policy that shook the world economy, before the Supreme Court in turn.
The execution of the sentence was suspended until October 14, customs duties in dispute remain in force at the moment. “All customs tasks are still in force!” The US president quickly reacted to a message on his social network of truth.
“Now, with the help of the United States Supreme Court, we will use them at the service of our country,” added the president. Donald Trump said he was going to understand the Court, whose conservative majority cemented, to decide the dispute in the last instance. A testament confirmed a little later by her Minister of Justice, Pam Bondi, in X.
Friday’s judgment, taken by the majority of the seven judges against four, weakens the protectionist offensive of the Head of State who had said publicly to feared this possibility at the beginning of the month.
It is not the power to tax
From his return to power in January, Donald Trump has established, in several waves, a new surcharge in the products that enter the United States. These vary from 10 to 50% depending on situations and countries.
These are these customs tasks, different from those that surprise in particular sectors (automotive, steel, aluminum, copper), which are in the heart of the legal conflict.
According to the text of the sentence, “the law grants the president of important powers to take a certain number of measures in response to a declared national emergency situation, but none of these measures explicitly includes the power to impose customs tasks and other taxes,” prerogative of the Congress.
The judges consider that the Head of State cannot impose indifferent customs tasks. However, it is written, those that have been established “apply to almost all imported articles to the United States”, almost whatever its origin and “without time limit.”
The case was examined for the first time by the United States International Commercial Court (ITC), which he had estimated at the end of May that Donald Trump had exceeded his powers by imposing an un directed surcharge.
“Embarrassing”
In his message about Truth Social, the US President said that Friday’s decision was taken by “highly politicized” judges, in other words, hostile to his government.
According to him, if customs duties were withdrawn, “it would be a complete disaster for the country,” which would be “destroyed.” In early August, he said he had to “reimburse (of) huge amounts”, while the US executive is proud to renounce tens of billions of dollars in additional income.
The Government is also afraid to lose an important pressure lever in its commercial partners. The fear of exorbitant customs tasks has pushed many of them, including the European Union, to refrain from reprisals and open its market more to US products.
“Such a decision would threaten the general strategic interests of the United States both nationally and internationally, and would probably lead to reprisals and cancellation of the agreements concluded with foreign trade partners,” said Minister of Commerce Howard Lutnick, in accordance with the documents transmitted to the Court and consulted by AFP.
His colleague in finance, Scott Besent, had estimated that a suspension of customs duties would place the United States in a “shameful and dangerous situation at the diplomatic level.”
California governor of California Gavin Newsom joked after the decision on Friday, saying that “Trump was the biggest loser in the United States.” At the same time, he regretted that the Americans “were those who submit to their failed economic policies.”
Source: BFM TV
