Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs halted by Court of International Trade
Most of President Trump’s tariffs were halted late Wednesday by a U.S. trade court in a sharp rebuke of the president’s signature trade war policy.
May 28, 2025 at 8:32 p.m. EDTYesterday at 8:32 p.m. EDT, 7 min
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden last month. (Demetrius Freeman / The Washington Post)
By David J. Lynch and Cat Zakrzewski
A specialized federal court in New York on Wednesday ruled that most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs — including those on Chinese goods — are illegal, upending negotiations with more than a dozen nations and creating fresh uncertainty for countless American businesses that depend upon foreign suppliers.
The decision by the little-known Court of International Trade neuters the president’s signature trade initiative: the comprehensive flurry of import taxes he announced on April 2 under the banner of “Liberation Day.”
Those tariffs sent the value of U.S. stocks, bonds and the dollar into sharp decline, causing global investors to rethink their habitual faith in the United States and raising questions about the U.S. economic outlook.
The trade court’s ruling that Trump exceeded his authority in imposing tariffs on all imported goods brought an immediate, albeit perhaps temporary, halt to his signature trade war policy.
“The challenged Tariff Orders will be vacated and their operation permanently enjoined,” a three-judge panel ruled.
Futures contracts on the S&P 500 stock index jumped 1.4 percent on the news. But a few hours later, the Justice Department said in a federal court filing that it will appeal. Skip to end of carousel
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