Appeals court lifts block on Trump’s global tariffs

A federal circuit US Court of Appeals has lifted the block on Trump’s global tariffs that was issued in rulings by the US Court of International Trade earlier this week.

“The court’s ruling—and now the legal back-and-forth—highlights exactly what’s wrong with the Trump Administration’s yo-yoing approach to tariffs,” Donald Bryson, CEO of the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal. “Businesses and state governments can’t make stable plans when trade policy is dictated by executive fiat one day and tied up in litigation the next. Trade policy should be strategic, lawful, and predictable—not improvised through emergency declarations that stretch statutory authority.”

 On Wednesday the US Court of International Trade struck down President Donald Trump’s global 10% tariffs imposed on almost every US trading partner on April 2. The ruling also blocks an additional set of tariffs imposed on China, Mexico, and Canada. 

 The ruling was made in an opinion issued by a three-judge panel on V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump and State of Oregon v. US Department of Homeland Security. Other states joining the lawsuit with Oregon are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Vermont.  

The Trump Administration cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977.  

The statute empowers the president to “investigate, regulate, or prohibit…the importing or exporting of currencies or securities… these powers may be exercised ‘to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, if the President declares a national emergency with respect to such threat.’” 

The Liberty Justice Center and Ilya Somin, a law professor at Scalia Law School at George Mason University, filed the first lawsuit on April 14. It challenges the president’s authority to issue such broad sweeping tariffs without approval from Congress. The second lawsuit challenges the tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China.

“Not once has any other President used IEEPA to impose tariffs. In the nearly five decades since IEEPA was enacted, no other President has imposed tariffs based on the existence of any national emergency, despite global anti-narcotics campaigns spearheaded by the United States and longstanding trade deficits,” reads the lawsuit. “Since February 1, 2025, President Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders imposing sweeping tariffs, interspersed with other orders and memoranda modifying, suspending, and clarifying some of the tariffs he just imposed. The President purported to rely on IEEPA emergency powers as the substantive authority to impose all the tariffs described below. These tariffs—defined below as the Canada Tariff Order, the Mexico Tariff Order, the China Tariff Order, and the Worldwide Tariff Order, each as amended—are herein collectively referred to as ‘IEEPA Tariff Orders’.” 

The US Court of International Trade rejected the Trump Administration’s interpretation of the law, ruling that it would be unconstitutional for Congress to delegate such broad authority to the president to impose tariffs, according to a report by CBS News. Additionally, the court found that President Trump’s 10% tariffs were not authorized under the IEEPA, as they were aimed at correcting trade imbalances between the United States and the global market. This matter should be addressed through non-emergency legislation. 

“We are confident the Federal Circuit will ultimately deny the government’s motion shortly thereafter, recognizing the irreparable harm these tariffs inflict on our clients,” said Jeffrey Schwab, Senior Counsel and Director of Litigation at the Liberty Justice Center, according to a report by the Hill. “This harm includes the loss of critical suppliers and customers, forced and costly changes to established supply chains, and, most seriously, a direct threat to the very survival of these businesses.”

The appeals court has set June 9 as the deadline for both parties to present their arguments, according to the Hill. The court will then rule on whether or not to grant a more extended stay of tariffs.

Additionally, Judge Rudolph Contreras, a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a similar ruling, blocking the majority of Trump’s tariffs, according to a report by the Hill. Similarly to the trade court, the opinion by Judge Contreras held that the President cannot unilaterally impose tariffs by declaring emergencies of trade deficits. 

The Trump administration appealed the US District Court and the US Court of International Trade rulings. 

“This case is not about tariffs qua tariffs. It is about whether IEEPA enables the President to unilaterally impose, revoke, pause, reinstate, and adjust tariffs to reorder the global economy,” wrote Judge Contreras in his opinion. “The Court agrees with Plaintiffs that it does not.”

The ruling was on a lawsuit filed by two Illinois-based companies, Learning Resources and hand2mind, which manufacture educational toys in China and other foreign countries. 

“Under the circumstances, enjoining the application of the Challenged Orders to two family-owned toy companies will have virtually no effect on the government,” wrote Contreras. “It will, however, protect those companies from irreparable injury should the CIT order be stayed or reversed.”  

Although the courts have indefinitely blocked those particular announcements, several of Trump’s other tariffs are still in effect, based on different legal authorities, according to the Hill. These remaining tariffs mainly target specific products such as steel and automobiles. 

The administration also attempted to move the multiple pending cases to the US Court of International Trade, claiming the court has “exclusive jurisdiction.” Still, Contreras denied the “change of venue” in his opinion.

Contreras allowed the Trump Administration to appeal two weeks before the ruling would go into effect. The administration has also appealed this ruling, and a separate court will rule on this appeal.

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