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A federal appeals court struck down most of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs Friday, saying they have no legal basis. The decision could undo many of Trump’s tariffs from “Liberation Day” in April, as well as earlier tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China. In its ruling, the appeals court called levying tariffs “a core Congressional power,” but the White House had argued the president has authority to impose tariffs without Congress based on the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The tariffs will remain in effect until October, giving the Trump administration time to bring the case to the Supreme Court. The decision encompasses two different cases that had challenged the tariffs: one brought by a group of U.S. states, led by Oregon, and the other brought by a group of businesses.

“It’s a sweeping decision that unequivocally rebukes President Trump’s idea that he can impose tariffs on American consumers on his own without the approval of the Congress,” says attorney Neal Katyal, who represents the businesses that initiated the tariff lawsuit.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield says his state challenged the tariffs because of their economic impact since “about 70% to 80%” of the costs are paid by U.S. consumers. “I really think we have to start calling them regressive taxes,” Rayfield says.

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This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: President Trump has vowed to take his tariff fight to the Supreme Court, after a federal appeals court Friday struck down most of the tariffs imposed by the White House, including the “Liberation Day” tariffs imposed in April, as well as earlier tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China. The decision upholds an earlier ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade. [In] its ruling, the appeals court called tariffs, quote, “a core Congressional power.”

The White House argued the president can unilaterally impose tariffs based on powers granted by the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, which has historically been used to impose sanctions. But [in] its decision, the appeals court wrote, quote, “It seems unlikely [that] Congress intended, in enacting IEEPA, to depart from its past practice and grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs. The statute neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the President’s power to impose tariffs,” unquote. The tariffs will remain in effect until October.

Trump wrote on Truth Social, quote, “If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America,” unquote.

The decision encompasses two different cases that challenge the tariffs, one brought by a group of U.S. states, led by Oregon, and the other brought by a group of businesses.

In a moment, we’ll speak with Dan Rayfield, the attorney general of the state of Oregon, but first to Washington, D.C., to speak with Neal Katyal. He argued the case for businesses. He was previously acting solicitor general in the Obama administration and has argued over 50 cases before the Supreme Court. He’s also a law professor at Georgetown University.

Neal, welcome back to Democracy Now! You’ve called this decision, quote, “a win for our Constitution and founders’ vision of what America is.” Lay out what happened, what exactly this decision means.

NEAL KATYAL: Yeah, I think it’s a sweeping decision that, you know, unequivocally rebukes President Trump’s idea that he can impose tariffs on American consumers on his own without the approval of the Congress. You know, our Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, expressly gives the power to tariff to Congress, not to the president. And so, the president basically tried to do this on his own, saying, “Well, Congress in 1977 passed a law called IEEPA, which is about emergency economic powers, and that gives me the power to have an unlimited tariff.” And as you just heard, the court just resoundingly rejected that idea, that it doesn’t mention the word “tariffs” in it, and, no, Congress has never given carte blanche authority to the president to tariff the American consumer.

And the Nonpartisan Tax Foundation has said, after studying President Trump’s tariffs, that they are the largest increase on American consumers — the largest tax increase on American consumers since Bill Clinton in 1993. And, of course, that was done through Congress. So, that’s simply what the opinion says. If the president really thinks these tariffs are so important, as you all just read, that the country will be destroyed without them, his choice is easy: just go to the Congress and get them approved.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: [inaudible] has the Congress delegated........

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