Court ruling: What impact will it have on the president's deals and economic agenda?

The US Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that Trump's use of a sweeping presidential power – the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) – to justify his April 2 tariffs, as well as separate levies imposed on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China, was wrong.

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What has been announced?

Legal complaints about the tariffs had been lodged with the court by the Liberty Justice Center campaign group on behalf of small US businesses, as well as a dozen US states, including Oregon, Arizona, and New York.

IEEPA is a 1977 law allowing the president to regulate commerce during a national emergency, without the need to go through Congress, and builds on the Trading with the Enemy Act introduced during the First World War.

However, the three-judge court panel ruled that the economic concerns cited by the White House to justify the tariff plans do not meet the required test of being "unusual and extraordinary threats".

The judges had been nominated to the court by three presidents: Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and Trump himself.

What is the impact?

Trump used IEEPA as the basis for his announcement on April 2 of a 10% worldwide tariff and country-specific border taxes at higher levels – since paused for 90 days to allow for trade talks - as well as for purportedly fentanyl-related tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.

The White House must take measures within 10 days to remove the tariffs to comply with the ruling, which it is appealing against.