(LEAD) U.S. trade court rules against Trump's 10 pct global tariffs

(LEAD) US court-Trump tariffs

(LEAD) U.S. trade court rules against Trump's 10 pct global tariffs

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, May 7 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. trade court ruled Thursday against President Donald Trump's 10 percent global tariffs in another legal setback to his trade policy, as his administration is already working to replace its emergency duties struck down by the Supreme Court in February.

In a 2-1 ruling, the three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade concluded that the sweeping tariffs are not justified under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, which Trump invoked to impose the levies, according to Reuters and the Associated Press.

The Trump administration is expected to appeal the court decision.

The temporary across-the-board tariffs took effect Feb. 24, days after the Supreme Court ruled against Trump's use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify country-specific "reciprocal" tariffs and other duties.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House in Washington on Feb. 20, 2026, in this file photo released by Reuters. (Yonhap)

Trump turned to Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act as it allows the president to impose import surcharges of up to 15 percent and other measures, such as import quotas, to address serious external trade and financial imbalances. Those measures can initially last for up to five months.

The latest tariffs were set to expire July 24.

Thursday's ruling came as Washington is taking a set of steps that would result in new tariffs.

In March, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) opened trade investigations into South Korea, China, Japan and 13 other economies to uncover "unfair" trade practices related to "structural" excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors.

The investigation is proceeding under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act -- a legal provision that allows the USTR to investigate unfair foreign trade practices on a country-by-country basis.

Also in March, the USTR opened Section 301 investigations into 60 economies, including South Korea, China and Japan, to determine whether their governments have taken sufficient steps to ban the importation of goods produced with forced labor.