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The New York-based Court of International Trade on Wednesday blocked the US administration's tariffs imposed in early April under an emergency-powers law from going into effect, while also ruling that the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from countries that have a trade deficit with the US, as reported by US media. 

A panel of three judges ruled that the executive orders entailing fentanyl-related tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China as well as the "worldwide, retaliatory" tariffs announced on April 2 "will be vacated and their operation permanently enjoined."

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize any of the executive orders mentioned above, said an opinion by the court.

"The worldwide and retaliatory tariff orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs. The Trafficking Tariffs fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders," said the opinion.

The trade court's decision, which was called by WSJ as "the first to rule on requests for injunctions after holding hearings in two cases," stemmed from two lawsuits: one brought by the nonpartisan Liberty Justice Center representing five small US businesses importing goods from affected countries, and another by 12 US states, according to the trade court's ruling document.

The five companies involved in the Wednesday ruling have said the tariffs will hurt their ability to do business, according to the lawsuit document published by the Liberty Justice Center on April 14, challenging the US administration's authority to unilaterally issue the "Liberation Day" - April 2 - tariffs, which are devastating small businesses across the country.

The court that made the ruling has nationwide jurisdiction over tariffs and trade disputes, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Regarding the court's ruling and how the ruling might affect China's trade negotiations with the US, Mao Ning, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, reiterated on Thursday at a regular press briefing that tariff and trade wars have no winners. Protectionism benefits no one and is ultimately unpopular. 

Also on Thursday, when asked to comment on the US trade court's decision, He Yongqian, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), said that "we have noticed that the court ruled that tariffs imposed over the fentanyl issue and the US administration's worldwide reciprocal tariffs are illegal and blocked them from going into effect. China has always maintained that there are no winners in a trade war and that protectionism has no way out."

Since the US introduced unilateral tariff measures, it has not only failed to solve any of its own problems, but also seriously disrupted the international economic and trade order, interfered with the production and operation of businesses and the daily consumption of the people, and harmed others without benefiting itself, said He.

"It has also prompted many opposing voices within the US. China urges the US to face up to the rational voices of the international community and all domestic parties and completely abolish the wrong practice of unilaterally imposing tariffs," said the MOFCOM spokesperson.

Widespread opposition 

Chinese experts said that the latest US court ruling shows the rising domestic opposition toward the US government's tariff policies, which have caused surging inflation and inflicted a heavy burden on US businesses.  

Currently, the US administration's tariffs are being challenged in at least seven lawsuits, according to AP.

For example, prior to this, California Governor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta on April 16 filed a lawsuit in a federal court challenging President Trump's use of emergency powers under the IEEPA to enact broad-sweeping tariffs that hurt states, consumers, and businesses, according to a statement posted on the state government's website.

"When corporate interests are impacted and they suffer substantial harm from tariff measures, companies, as well as US states, pursue such legal actions to appeal from the perspective that the tariff measures taken by the US administration were not in line with the procedures," Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Friday. The court's decision blocks the tariffs the US administration slapped in early April on almost all US trading partners and the levies it imposed before that on China, Mexico and Canada, according to AP.

On April 2, the US government announced what it claims to be "reciprocal tariffs" against its trading partners, including China. A week later, many country-specific tariffs were suspended. After China took firm countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests, the US further increased tariffs to levels that even its officials said were "unsustainable." On May 12, after a high-level meeting in Geneva, the two countries issued a joint statement announcing the removal of significant tariffs on each other and suspending some duties for 90 days.

"Recent phenomena in the US, such as soaring prices and protests breaking out in many places, are precisely the market's response to the short-sighted policies of the US government. The industrial sector, workers, farmers and consumers in the US are the biggest victims of the tariffs," Ying Pinguang, dean of the School of Trade Negotiations at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times.

The US' imposition of "reciprocal tariffs" is essentially political manipulation rather than a rational economic decision, said Ying.

Apart from domestic lawsuits, US' tariffs have also been challenged by many of its trade partners. 

In the latest example, the European Union (EU) and other members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on May 21 spoke out against the US tariffs in Geneva, calling for collective efforts to strengthen the multilateral trading system, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

The EU delegation said the US approach of addressing macroeconomic imbalances within its territory through microeconomic trade tools like tariffs is the wrong solution. 

During the meeting, about 10 representatives, including those from the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan and Brazil, voiced criticism of the US tariff measures on behalf of over 100 WTO members, according to reports.

Facing the strong international backlash, domestic contradictions in the US have intensified, forcing the announcement of a 90-day suspension of "reciprocal tariffs" for many countries, still maintaining a certain level of tariffs, Ying said.

"Additionally, certain technology products, including integrated circuits, smartphones, and tablets, have been temporarily exempted from these tariffs. These measures indicate that US trade policy is caught in a dilemma, unprepared for the significant impact of imposing comprehensive tariffs on itself," Ying noted.

What's next?

Bloomberg pointed out that for now, the ruling permanently blocks the tariffs unless the appeals court allows Trump to reinstate them during litigation.

The US administration was given 10 days to make the necessary changes to carry out the judges' orders, according to CNBC.

Within minutes of the trade court's ruling, the US administration lodged an appeal. "It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency," White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai claimed in a statement, the AP reported. 

It is reported that the Wednesday's decision can be appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC, and ultimately the US Supreme Court, according to Reuters. 

"While no matter how the US administration reacts to the ruling, this, together with the lawsuits filed in federal courts, confirms that the US government's actions on tariffs are facing increasing pressure and offers hope that the administration might back off from the hefty tariff level it had inflicted worldwide," said Li.

In a sign of temporary relief, markets react mildly to the Wednesday's court ruling.  

European stocks and Wall Street futures rose on Thursday after a U.S. federal court blocked Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs from going into effect, sending the dollar up on safe-haven currencies, Reuters reported.