SIGH OF RELIEF

Markets Surge After Trump’s Humiliating Tariff Plan Setback

The president’s loss is pretty much everybody else’s gain.

U.S. stock futures surged after a bombshell court ruling blocked President Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs.

Benchmark S&P 500 futures rose 1.2 percent early Thursday, while Dow futures climbed 0.7 percent. Nasdaq futures saw the biggest spike, gaining around 1.7 percent. The jumps came after the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority in using federal law to impose steep import taxes on almost all foreign countries.

NOT SO LIBERATED

Trump’s Own Judge Humiliates Him by Tearing Apart Key Policy

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The duties, which Trump announced in April and later paused, have severely roiled the markets since they were announced. Following Trump’s announcement, three major U.S. stock indexes recorded their largest single-day drops since the outbreak of COVID-19 back in 2020.

Trump had invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose the measures. In the trade court’s ruling, a three-judge panel said on Wednesday the provisions of that act do not authorize the president to bring universal levies, and that Trump’s tariffs thereby “exceed any authority granted” to him.

Trump used a different law to impose tariffs on targeted products, such as aluminum and cars, meaning they remain in effect.

Though the White House almost immediately appealed the judges’ decision, news of the ruling also appears to have prompted a surge in markets further afield.

South Korea’s KOSPI, Japan’s Nikkei 225, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose by 1.89 percent, 1.88 percent, and 1.35 percent respectively.

Investors’ optimism could prove to be short-lived, however, with some analysts highlighting that the Trump administration could find ways to press ahead with its tariff plans despite the ruling.

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“This ruling represents a setback for the administration’s tariff plans and increases uncertainty but might not change the final outcome for most major U.S. trading partners,” economists at Goldman Sachs said in a research note, according to CNBC. “For now, we expect the Trump administration will find other ways to impose tariffs.”

President Trump has yet to address the ruling. He ignored the blow to his signature economic policy Wednesday night, instead spending the evening posting about a victory in an unrelated legal battle and sharing flattering images of himself, including one that said he is on “a mission from God.”

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