US trade court says Trump’s 10% global tariffs are illegal

A federal court ruled Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s attempt to impose a 10% global tariff is illegal, the latest legal setback for his import duty campaign.

Trump attempted to impose the 10% tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down his initial tariff effort in a rare legal defeat from the staunchly conservative bench earlier this year.

This time around, a three-judge panel on the US Court of International Trade sided with a group of small businesses, ruling 2-1 that the proclamation Trump signed to impose the work-around duties is “invalid, and the tariffs imposed on plaintiffs are unauthorized by law.”

The Trump administration is all but certain to appeal the ruling. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The court granted an injunction to the state of Washington and the group of small businesses that sued.

“The public interest would be served by a permanent injunction,” the panel’s majority wrote.