The Philippines may find fresh momentum in trade talks with the United States after a US appeals court ruled that former President Donald Trump’s tariff policy was unconstitutional, analysts said.
The 7-4 ruling upheld a decision by the US Court of International Trade that Trump exceeded his authority when he imposed new tariff rules under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The court said only Congress may levy taxes and tariffs, and any delegation of that authority must be explicit and limited.
“It’s a legal bombshell. The court said Trump’s tariffs were unconstitutional. That shakes the foundation of his trade strategy,” Jonathan Ravelas, managing director at eManagement for Business and Marketing Services (eMBM), said in an interview with Malaya Business Insight over the weekend.
“For us, it opens a window. If those tariffs fall, we get breathing room to renegotiate and push for fairer terms,” Ravelas stressed.
Although the tariffs remain in place until October 14 to give the Trump administration time to appeal to the US Supreme Court, Ravelas says the ruling has already undercut Washington’s leverage.
“Right now, it’s still in play—but it’s not final,” Ravelas said. “The ruling weakens Trump’s leverage, so we should press harder. Use our old friend-and-ally status. Push for reciprocity. And most of all—make our exports competitive.”
He added: “This is a wake-up call. Let’s not just wait for the US to fix things. We need to fix our fundamentals—costs, logistics, product quality. If we want better deals, we need to be a better trading partner.”
