Haberman calls tariff ruling a ‘big blow’ to Trump agenda
National Political Correspondent Maggie Haberman said the latest appeals court ruling on President Trump’s sweeping tariffs represents a “big blow” to the Trump administration’s agenda.
“This is the one that a lot of people who follow trade issues have been concerned about and is the outcome that they anticipated, frankly,” Haberman told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview Friday evening. “You know, the president has used a lot of emergency powers in a lot of situations that many who are watching don’t think qualify as emergencies. This was one that was always going to be difficult. “
“And the further it got along down the process; the U.S. is going to end up in a position if the Supreme Court upholds this ruling,” she continued. “And it is almost certainly going to go to the Supreme Court.”
The veteran New York Times journalist signaled that the ruling, if not overturned on appeal, could require the U.S. in the future to pay foreign trading partners back for the additional import taxes.
“That gets very complicated,” she said Friday. “So, this is a big blow to the president’s agenda. He has sometimes ignored courts. We’ll see what this looks like.”
Her comments came just hours after a federal appeals court ruled against the Trump administration’s use of emergency powers to justify the president’s global tariffs. In the 7-4 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the tariffs were not authorized under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which the president used to justify his baseline and “reciprocal” duties on foreign imports.
Trump late Friday railed against the outcome, calling his tariffs the “best tool” to support workers and businesses in the U.S.
“Today a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social, following the decision. “If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country.”
“It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong,” the president continued. “The U.S.A. will no longer tolerate enormous Trade Deficits and unfair Tariffs and Non Tariff Trade Barriers imposed by other Countries, friend or foe, that undermine our Manufacturers, Farmers, and everyone else.”
The ruling, the latest hiccup amid Trump’s trade war, will not take effect until mid-October, giving the administration time for an appeal.