TOKYO — A ruling by a U.S. trade court finding much of President Donald Trump’s tariff regime illegal, turning a spotlight on the constitutional separation of powers, hearkens back to a case five decades ago in which a Japanese company spurred courts to hit the brakes on a president’s trade policy.
The U.S. Court of International Trade on May 28 found that Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs, as well as duties targeting Canada, Mexico and China over their alleged failure to curb the flow of fentanyl into the country, were “unlawful.” An appeals court temporarily reinstated the duties the following day.
