US court rules Trump's tariffs on most countries, including Britain, are illegal
A US appeals court has ruled that most of the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump are illegal, including those on the UK.
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The ruling applies to the US President’s "reciprocal" tariffs slapped on the majority of countries around the world.
They also impact other higher tariffs issued to China, Mexico and Canada.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected the argument the tariffs were allowed under an emergency economic powers act in a 7-4 ruling.
The judges branded the tariffs "invalid as contrary to law", irking Mr Trump as the President took to his Truth Social network to blast the ruling.
"If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America.
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"Today a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end," he wrote.
"If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong," Mr Trump wrote.
He said that other nations have slapped tariffs on the US and claimed that the Supreme Court would overturn the decision.
The move tees up a potential legal battle which could potentially damage his foreign policy agenda.
Trump used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to roll out the tariffs, which he argued gives him the power to defend against "unusual and extraordinary" threats.
He declared a national emergency on trade and claimed that a trade imbalance is threatening US national security.
But the court ruled that Trump’s tariff agenda is not within his presidential mandate, arguing it is "a core Congressional power".
The judges wrote in a 127-page ruling that it "neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the President's power to impose tariffs"
"Whenever Congress intends to delegate to the President the authority to impose tariffs, it does so explicitly, either by using unequivocal terms like tariff and duty, or via an overall structure which makes clear that Congress is referring to tariffs," they added.
Earlier this month, a fresh wave of Mr Trump’s global tariffs came into force for dozens of countries, raising the cost of their exports to the US.
The “reciprocal” tariffs range from 10% on the UK to a whopping 41% on goods from Syria.
A survey of more than 500 owners of small and medium-sized businesses (SME) in the UK found over half say the tariffs have reduced their willingness to export.
