US tariffs, still chaos: after “Ieepa” ones, American courts strike down also “global” ones

Another plot twist in the “U.S. Tariffs” saga: after the United States Supreme Court ruled last February that the tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (Ieepa) were unlawful, tariffs for which refunds totaling an estimated 160 billion dollars are now being processed amid considerable uncertainty, news has now emerged that yesterday a panel of federal judges (by a 2-1 vote) also determined that the 10% “universal tariffs” imposed by Trump are illegal. In particular, as explained among others by the authoritative “The New York Times”, “the Court of International Trade found that Trump had misused a decades-old trade law when he introduced those tariffs starting in February. The president had imposed those measures after his previous round of heavy tariffs had been struck down by the Supreme Court”.
Specifically, “The New York Times” notes that after the Supreme Court invalidated those Ieepa tariffs in February, the White House had moved quickly to reinstate them by invoking an unused provision of the Trade Act of 1974, known as Section 122. This rule allows the White House to impose tariffs of up to 15% for a maximum of 150 days in response to “large and serious United States balance-of-payments deficits” and situations presenting “fundamental international payments problems”, conditions that, evidently, the federal judges didn’t find to be met. At present, aside from an irritated social media comment from Trump, there have been no official reactions from the White House, which is widely expected to appeal this ruling as well. Moreover, the news came almost simultaneously with the ultimatum issued by Trump to the European Commission following a long phone call with President Ursula von der Leyen: “if by the anniversary No. 250 of the United States, on July 4th, Europe does not comply with the agreement, tariffs will immediately jump to levels far higher than the 15% foreseen”, said Trump referring to the agreements between the U.S. and the EU signed in Turnberry, Scotland, in July 2025.
This situation adds further uncertainty to the markets, including the wine sector, an element that is, in its own way, even more disruptive than the tariffs themselves, as highlighted by president of Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv) Lamberto Frescobaldi: “regarding U.S. tariffs, recent threats and rejections amplify uncertainty: for businesses, it is damage on top of damage. The hope for wine entrepreneurs is to reduce uncertainty as much as possible through ratification of the Turnberry agreement, well aware that we will not be celebrating anyway”. According to Uiv, as expected, the tariffs have weakened exports to the United States, but above all they have strained the American supply chain and commercial network, as recently noted by the United States Wine Trade Alliance (Uswta) in an official comment during the public debate on measures for the new tariffs. According to Uswta importers, distributors, producers, restaurateurs, and wine retailers, the tariffs have crippled the domestic economy of the sector, causing “real, widespread, and sustained damage to American businesses along the entire wine supply chain, with sales declining between 5% and 15% or even more”. A “portfolio reduction” is also evident in the restaurant sector (where European wines generate gross margins of 60%): across the country - according to Datassential - menus now offer 37% fewer white wine labels and 26% fewer red wine labels. On the Italian side, according to the Uiv Observatory, exports fell by 9.2% in 2025 (-178 million euros), with a -23% drop in just the last half of the year. The first quarter of this year closed with an estimated gap of around -20% (-105 million euros): the worst start to a year since 2022, although, according to the Observatory, after 9 months “in the red” sales figures are already expected to show a slight recovery since April.