US President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war, tariffs and fragile truces have entered a new “battlefield” — the US courts.
Here, judges are now interpreting the flaws and fault lines in his economic policies, while also scrutinizing the true essence of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
This judicial battle appears poised to significantly impact the US Government’s administrative, moral, political and trade authority.
It challenges the Administration’s insistence on maintaining the status quo through obsessive trade policies that risk undermining core constitutional principles, including the separation of powers and accountability.
On the other hand, the White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt criticism on this court decision stating that Amer-ica cannot function when diplomatic or trade negotiations are “railroaded by activist judges showing the “real mental-ity” of the US incumbent government cashing its imbalanced economic, trade and political policies on the expense of justice thus the US Statue of Liberty and Constitution is in danger.
Most recently, the decision of a three-judge panel terming the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that Trump cited to justify the tariffs illegal and did not give him the power to impose the sweeping import taxes.
Thus it is indeed a first big dent to the US incumbent government’s economic, trade and foreign policies raising certain questions of legitimacy and international engagements.
Furthermore, the court’s blocking of a separate set of levies the Trump Administration imposed on China, Mexico and Canada labelled as a legal and moral victory for the international trading system pleading for a justice and free global system to achieve the desired goals of socio-economic prosperity and integration.
It appears that since the 1977 Inter-national Emergency Economic Powers Act has been revoked, the US administration’s objectives such as raising reve-nue through tariffs, pressuring companies to relocate manufacturing to the US and leveraging tariffs in international negotiations would be significantly constrained.
The New York-based court’s verdict clarified about the US Constitution giving Congress exclusive powers to regulate commerce with other nations.
Actually, the said ruling was based on two separate cases.
The nonpartisan Liberty Jus-tice Centre brought one case on behalf of several small businesses that import goods from countries that were targeted by the duties, while a coalition of US state governments also challenged the import taxes.
The two cases marked the first major legal challenges to Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs and went to the Court of International Trade, a part of the federal court system with specific authority over trade.
Meanwhile, in a shocking twist a US federal appeals court has decided that Trump’s global tariffs can temporarily stay in place while it considers the White House’s appeal against the trade court’s judgement.
It is a temporary relief to the US incumbent government.
It seems that President Trump’s tariffs remain in place, at least for now, after an appeals court ruled that his administration can continue to collect import fees.
The Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the US are already experiencing substantial losses as a result of the tariff wars and some of the damage has yet to surface due to existing warehouse inventories that temporarily cushion the impact.
Even major corporations like Walmart have announced impending price increases an ominous signal for smaller, more vulnerable businesses.
Thus, the court decision may be a defeat for the Trump administration, the broader economic losses and potential po-litical fallout could prove far more damaging for both the administration and the Republican Party.
It seems that the sudden leaving of tech billionaire Elon Musk from the US administration has shaken its credibility to run the affairs of government achieving so-called high standards of efficiency, transparency and accountability.
The emerging debt is damaging its financial stability and of course economic sustainability.
It seems that William Shakespeare Comedy of Errors has become a living reality in the US incumbent government punching again China, its economy, companies, enterprises, commodities and even students badly damaging and mar-ginalizing the ongoing temporary tariffs truce In the very near past, both economies agreed to immediately roll back steep tariffs, a conciliatory step in a trade war that had threatened the entire global trading system.
Following a brief tariff truce, factories resumed operations and delayed shipments began departing Chinese ports for the US.
However, renewed actions from Washington, including export controls on chip-design software to China and military end users, have reignited tensions.
These moves have triggered widespread concern across Chinese industries and communities, casting doubt on the future of US-China trade talks.
The 90-day truce window is rapidly closing and prospects for a lasting agreement remain uncertain.
The Financial Times reported that Trump’s restrictions effectively barred some US firms from selling essential software to China.
Constitutionally, trade policy falls under Congress, specifically its trade committees — a safeguard meant to prevent economic decisions driven by personal agendas.
Without adherence to this framework, the US risks destabilizing its economic governance and undermining the integ-rity of its constitutional order
Frankly speaking, Trump’s claim of creating leverage to do deals is not a permissible rationale for use of the powers.
This dismantles the entire notion of the art of the deal.
Hopefully, the judicial battle has now reached a panic mode which would be dealt by the US Supreme Court.
Obviously, the US own court’s verdict considered Trump’ action as illegal, further damaging his political, moral and administrative repute.
Unfortunately, the White House is currently hemmed in by its own bond markets, retailers, big business, many individual states and now its courts on this policy.
While it hit back with an immediate appeal, some in the wider administration might well be privately toasting the judges.
Pandora box is now opened.
—The writer is President, Pak-China Corridor of Knowledge, Executive Director, CSAIS, regional expert: China, CPEC & BRI. (mehmoodulhassankhan@yahoo.com)
