A federal court of appeal suspended the decision of the International Trade Court that blocked the fares of President Donald Trump.
The decision of the United States Appeal Court for the federal circuit restores Trump’s ability to charge tariffs using the emergency powers he declared earlier this year. The Court of Appeal also ordered both parties to present written arguments on the issue of blocking Trump’s tariffs, to be presented at the beginning of next month.
Suspension increases confusion and uncertainty around Trump’s tariffs, which have been a fundamental pillar of its economic policy.
The International Court of Commerce ruled on Wednesday that Trump had no authority under the International Emergency Economic Economic Powers Law to impose comprehensive tariffs.
The Trump administration has immediately appealed the decision, starting a legal battle on the economic policy that Trump promises to reorient the American economy for the transforming industry, but could increase prices for small businesses and consumers.
The panel of three judges from USCIT blocked all rates invoked under IEEPA – the “Liberation Day” rates announced by Trump on April 2 and also the tariffs imposed earlier this year against China, Mexico and Canada, designed to combat Fentanyl entry into the United States. Notably, the order does not include 25% tariffs on cars, car parts, steel or aluminum, which were under a different law, section 232 of the commercial expansion law.
The White House hardly criticized this decision.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s imposition of tariffs under a national emergency, saying that the matter had already been “judged by Congress.” She called the panel of three judges “activist judges,” although she includes a judge appointed by Trump during her first term, and said they “are threatening to undermine the US scene on the world scene.”
Leavitt criticized what he said was an effort to “blatantly abuse his judicial power to usurp the authority of Trump.”
The USCit came to unanimously summary judgment in two cases separated in a single deliberation. One of them was a lawsuit filed in April by Liberty Justice Center, a legal defense group that represents the Vinico Selections and four other small companies. The other was moved by twelve democratic states against the government because of tariffs.
On Thursday, Liberty Justice Center said in a statement that the court’s decision “is just a procedural measure, as the court considers the government’s request for a longer suspension while awaiting the decision.”
The Court of Appeal has established June 5 for the plaintiffs to respond and June 9 for the government to respond.
“We are confident that the federal circuit will eventually reject the government motion shortly afterwards, recognizing the irreparable damage these tariffs cause to our customers,” said Liberty Justice Center senior advisor Jeffrey Schwab in the statement.
On Thursday, in a separate process, federal judge Rudolph Contreras decided that two American toy-family companies, Learning Resources and Hand2Mind would be irreparably impaired by Trump fares, and that the International Emergency Economic Economic Powers Cited by Trump does not contain any arrangements for tariffs.
Although Contreras issued a court order protecting the two companies, the judge suspended it for two weeks, waiting for the appeal. The Trump administration quickly appealed to the decision of contrary to the US DC Circuit Appeal Court.
*Betsy Klein contributed to this article
