Overview
- An international trade court panel in New York ruled 2–1 on Thursday that the administration’s 10% tariff is unlawful as applied to the plaintiffs, ordered refunds within five days, and limited the injunction to those parties so other importers must still pay.
- The judges said Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, which allows short‑term tariffs to address serious balance‑of‑payments problems, did not fit the administration’s trade‑deficit rationale.
- The government is expected to appeal and is also advancing separate investigations under Sections 301 and 232, routes that require formal findings and take longer but could support new, targeted import restrictions.
- Brussels says it will keep implementing last year’s EU‑US tariff deal even as the court decision lands, while the president set a July 4 deadline and warned of higher duties, with a threatened 25% auto tariff currently on hold after talks with Ursula von der Leyen.
- The narrow order offers immediate relief only to the state of Washington and two companies, yet it signals broader legal risk, including potential refund liabilities from earlier unlawful tariffs reported at about $166 billion, and it may spur more suits by other importers.