President challenging federal appeals court decision that ‘liberation day’ levies on imports overstepped his powers

Donald Trump has asked the US supreme court to overturn a lower court decision that most of his sweeping trade tariffs were illegal.

The US president filed a petition late on Wednesday to ask for a review of last week’s federal appeals court ruling in Washington DC, which centred on his “liberation day” border taxes introduced on 2 April that imposed levies of between 10% and 50% on most US imports and sent shock waves through global trade and markets.

The court found in a 7-4 ruling last Friday that Trump overstepped his presidential powers when he invoked a 1977 law designed to address national emergencies to justify his “reciprocal” tariffs.