THE US Court of International Trade on Thursday ruled that US President Donald Trump’s new global tariff is illegal, thus invalidating his 10 per cent tariffs on most US imports. The court ruled that Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows tariffs only when there are “large and serious balance-of-payment deficits.”

“But no such thing exists,” Oregon Attorney-General Dan Rayfield’s office said in a release. “A trade deficit is not a balance-of-payment deficit. As the court ruled, the President’s tariffs proclamation ‘is invalid, and the tariffs imposed on Plaintiffs are unauthorized by law.’” The Trump administration initially invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose universal tariffs worldwide in April 2025.

The Supreme Court ruled those tariffs were unlawful in February this year. Trump then immediately resorted to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and announced a 10 per cent ad valorem duty on “all articles imported into the United States”, supposedly in response to trade deficits.

Xinhua

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