Trump to appeal against judges' decision that his tariff regime is illegal

Donald Trump's administration intends to ask the US supreme court to immediately pause what it characterized as an attempt by "activist judges" to block its sweeping tariffs.

- Dominic Rushe New York Kalyeena Makortoff

A US trade court ruled the US president's tariffs regime was illegal late on Wednesday, in a dramatic twist that could block Trump's controversial global trade policy.

The ruling by a three-judge panel at the New York-based court of international trade came after several lawsuits argued Trump had exceeded his authority, leaving US trade policy dependent on his whims and unleashing economic chaos around the world.

Yesterday, the Trump administration filed for "emergency relief" from the ruling "to avoid the irreparable national-security and economic harms at stake". The administration will appeal only if a federal court declines to temporarily pause the tariff ruling.

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the judges had "brazenly abused their judicial power to usurp the authority of President Trump" in what she characterized as a pattern of judicial overreach. "Ultimately the supreme court must put an end to this," she said.

Leavitt's comments came as a second judge, the Washington DC district court judge Rudolph Contreras, called the tariffs unlawful and ordered a preliminary injunction on the tariffs from a pair of Illinois toy importers that brought the case.

Tariffs typically need to be approved by Congress but Trump has so far bypassed that requirement by claiming that the country's trade deficits amount to a national emergency. The president applied sweeping tariffs to most countries last month, in a move that sent markets reeling.