US court blocks Donald Trump’s tariffs describing them as ‘illegal’

Trump has been dealt a hard blow to his war with tariffs

The US Court of International Trade found on Wednesday that the Trump did not possess enough authority to implement such levies using emergency economic powers that he cited when he sent the world's stock markets into a spin last month.

Trump announced his tariffs to the world as every nation was subject to different rates in an attempt to "equalise" trade with the US.

This meant event uninhabited islands with only penguins living on them were slapped with tariffs too.

This latest blow to Trump could put a serious spanner in the plans of the US Presidents global trade policy.

It is not the first time that US courts have had to intervene with government policy after a court had previous ruled against the deportation of certain people deemed migrants.

The Financial Times say the ruling is set to be appealed.

The court's decision by a panel of judges was unequivocal.

The court ruled that the executive orders in which Trump announced the tariffs “are declared to be invalid as contrary to law”.

“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President . . . to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the order added.

In the wake of the news the US stock index futures and shares in Asia bounced back slightly in response to the news.

Trump responded to the news almost immediately as it lodged an appeal.

White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai said in a statement: "It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency.

"President Trump pledged to put America First, and the Administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American Greatness."