Most of the Trump administration’s sweeping global tariffs that were blocked by the U.S. Court of International Trade earlier this week were back in place again Friday following an appellate court decision that has paused the lower court’s injunction.
The injunction that had been issued Wednesday was the result of lawsuits filed by small U.S. businesses and several states seeking to halt the tariffs, arguing the president had overstepped his powers under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Trump administration quickly appealed, however, resulting in the decision late Thursday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which granted a stay of the injunction that allows the tariffs to remain in place for now.
The appellate court asked the plaintiffs who are challenging the tariffs to file a brief by June 5 laying out their arguments and directed the U.S. Justice Department to reply by June 9. The order indicates the appeal will be heard by the full court, with 11 active judges participating.
The court rulings apply only to the tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed by executive order using the IEEPA statute. Tariffs on steel and aluminum products, including cars, are not impacted by this week’s legal wrangling because they were issued under a separate national security provision of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (known as Section 232 tariffs).
Whatever the appellate court decides in this case, most legal experts expect the litigation will eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
