A federal court has ruled that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority in attempting to impose sweeping tariffs on imported goods, including Apple products, halting plans that could have dramatically raised iPhone prices across the United States (via CNET).
The U.S. Court of International Trade yesterday issued a unanimous decision blocking a series of tariff orders that the Trump administration attempted to implement using emergency executive powers. The panel of three judges determined that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 does not permit the president to unilaterally impose duties on foreign goods without Congressional approval. The case specifically affects tariff proposals that would have significantly impacted Apple.
The Trump administration threatened to apply a 25% tariff on all iPhones produced outside the United States. The administration cited IEEPA as justification for imposing these and other related tariffs in recent times. In its opinion, the court found that such an interpretation would constitute "an improper abdication of legislative power" and would render the president's trade authority effectively unlimited.
An unlimited delegation of tariff authority would constitute an improper abdication of legislative power to another branch of government. Regardless of whether the court views the president's actions through the nondelegation doctrine, through the major questions doctrine, or simply with separation of powers in mind, any interpretation of IEEPA that delegates unlimited tariff authority is unconstitutional.
The decision invalidates a set of executive tariff orders issued in April as part of the Trump administration's "Liberation Day" initiative, which intended to reset the balance of trade through a broad set of import duties. The full set of proposed tariffs had not yet gone into full effect but had already introduced substantial market uncertainty, particularly for Apple, which depends heavily on international manufacturing.
The tariffs could have raised the retail price of the most expensive iPhone model—the iPhone 16 Pro Max with 1TB of storage—from $1,599 to more than $4,300 in a worst-case scenario, according to CNET. Similarly, the base iPhone 16E with 128GB of storage could have reached $1,617 under the most aggressive tariff schedule.
The projections were based on a combination of existing and proposed tariffs: a 30% duty on Chinese goods rising to 145% in August, along with a separate 25% Apple-specific tariff proposed by the administration. CNET estimates that a price increase of $50 to $130 was already likely for the iPhone 17 lineup, regardless of the tariff issue; Apple has not raised iPhone prices since 2020.
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruling came in response to two lawsuits filed by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of five U.S. businesses and another filed by a coalition of 12 states led by Oregon.
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