Federal Trade Court Rules Trump's 10% Global Tariffs Illegal, Citing Executive Overreach

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled 2-1 that President Trump's 10% global tariffs, imposed on February 24, 2026, were illegal and unauthorized by law. The court found Trump wrongly invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to implement the across-the-board tariffs without congressional approval. This represents the second major judicial defeat for Trump's tariff agenda in 2026, following a Supreme Court ruling in February that struck down earlier tariffs. The decision blocks the tariffs for the small businesses and Washington state that challenged them, marking another rebuke of what critics call Trump's executive overreach on trade policy. The ruling explicitly stated that the proclamation Trump signed to enact the levy 'is invalid' and the tariffs themselves are 'unauthorized by law,' representing a clear judicial finding of executive overreach and violation of the constitutional separation of powers regarding congressional authority over trade.

"The proclamation Trump signed to enact the levy 'is invalid' and the tariffs themselves are 'unauthorized by law.'" — From the U.S. Court of International Trade's 2-1 ruling striking down Trump's 10% global tariffs as exceeding executive authority under the Trade Act of 1974.