US Trade Court Rules Trump’s Global Tariffs Illegal, Clouding Bitcoin Outlook
The Trump administration invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act on April 2, 2025, to announce a 10% baseline tariff on most imports, effective April 5. Because the measure covered global trade, its legality had implications for corporate costs, inflation expectations and the pricing of risk assets including Bitcoin.
The US Court of International Trade ruled on May 28, 2025, that the president lacked authority under the law to impose sweeping tariffs and ordered the relevant directives rescinded. The Justice Department immediately appealed. On May 29, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed the lower court’s ruling, allowing the 10% tariff to remain in force and prolonging policy uncertainty for markets.
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The history behind this eventAnalysis: How Trump's Tariff Policies Affect Bitcoin Prices
Bitcoin has become more closely correlated with risk assets such as U.S. stocks, leaving its price exposed to Trump's trade and cryptocurrency policies. After the White House announced its “Liberation Day” tariffs of at least 10% on April 5, 2025, Bitcoin immediately fell 5.7% but was up 2.14% one week later. Trump's signing of Executive Order 14178 on January 23 that year sent a pro-crypto signal.
The latest shock began on February 22, 2026, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority by imposing some tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. He immediately invoked the Trade Act of 1974 instead and announced a global tariff of 10%. Bitcoin fell 0.77% the following day and was down another 1.3% by the time Cointelegraph published its report on February 26. The cryptocurrency was only just holding above $70,000 for the month.
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