Trump tariffs ruled illegal within minutes of Musk announcing end of government role

Hardware biz gets a reprieve but administration’s plans are unchanged

World War Fee The USA’s Court of International Trade has ruled the Trump administration improperly implemented its “Liberation Day” tariff policy, effectively blocking the imposition of the duties.

The policy was introduced on April 2nd, after the administration declared an emergency on grounds that the practices of America’s trading partners “constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States.” The Executive Order that enacted the tariffs cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) as giving the president authority to do so.

Several cases challenged that interpretation. One of the lawsuits, V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump , was brought by the Liberty Justice Center, which describes itself as using “strategic, precedent-setting litigation to revitalize constitutional restraints on government power.” A dozen US States brought another.

The Court’s judgement [PDF] concludes that IEEPA doesn’t confer the power to introduce tariffs and says the US Constitution is clear that’s a job for Congress.

Stephen Miller, the Trump administration’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor has described the ruling as a “judicial coup”. An administration spokesperson has reportedly issued a statement that reads: “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency.

Whatever the legal niceties, the ruling means more uncertainty for hardware companies that sell in the US as they are nearly always reliant on systems and components made offshore. It also means the Trump administration’s plans to do things like tariff Apple iPhones now look harder to implement.

Another problem for the administration is the loss of a star employee: Elon Musk, who masterminded cost-cutting unit the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk on Wednesday used his own social network, X, to note that his status as a “Special Government Employee” – which allows 130 days of work – will end in coming days.

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” he wrote, before adding “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

That latter sentiment is at odds with sentiments he expressed in a preview of an interview to appear on US network CBS this coming Sunday, in which Musk expressed disappointment with a budget bill that recently passed the US House of Representatives because it “increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”

Musk has previously said he will spend less time on political matters so he can pay more attention to X and Tesla, the businesses he leads. ®