in Washington

A federal appeal court in Washington has ruled that US President Donald Trump’s global “reciprocal” and fentanyl tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada are illegal, upholding a lower court’s decision to block them.

The court decided to keep the tariffs in place until October 14, allowing the Trump administration time to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

The verdict deals a major blow to Trump’s “America first” trade strategy.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the president lacks the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs under emergency powers without congressional approval.

“The statute bestows significant authority on the President to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency,” the court stated. “But none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax.”

White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai, in a statement to the Post, said that “President Trump lawfully exercised the tariff powers granted to him by Congress to defend our national and economic security from foreign threats.”