Financial markets cheer US court ruling striking out Trump tariffs

Thursday, 29 May 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke at the Rose Garden on ‘Liberation Day’ outlining his tariffs - but now, a trade court has overruled them.

Key financial markets have been rising around the world in the wake of a United States federal court ruling that disallows the bulk of the global tariffs ordered by US President Donald Trump.

That includes a 10% tariff on all products imported from New Zealand.

Reuters reported that the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade ruled that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board tariffs on “Liberation Day” — as well as specific tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, supposedly in relation to illegal imports of fentanyl.

The White House has challenged the ruling, which could be appealed as far as the Supreme Court, but news agency AP noted the Court of International Trade had jurisdiction over civil cases involving trade and described its decision as a big set-back for Trump.

The US dollar surged 0.5% against an index of other currencies following the court order.

The S&P Futures Index, which is a key indicator of investor sentiment in the US, jumped on the development and was trading 1.5% higher at 4pm on Thursday afternoon, New Zealand time.

Reuters reported share markets in Asia also got a fillip.

The ASX top 500 index inched up 0.2% from its day-low, but the NZX top 50 index appeared unmoved and was still 0.6% down on the day after failing to recover from a morning slump.

The US constitution gives the US Congress — rather than the president — the power to set taxes, including tariffs, AP noted.

While there has been an accelerating trend for presidents to successfully assume widening powers through the use of “executive orders”, the Court of International Trade ruled Trump had exceeded his authority imposing tariffs based on a self-declared national emergency.