Trump tariffs can remain in effect, US appeals court rules
The decision means Trump may continue to enforce, for now, his tariffs on imports from most US trading partners
US President Donald Trump can continue to enforce his global tariffs for now, a federal appeals court held in a win for the president on one of his signature economic policies.
The order Tuesday by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit extends an earlier, short-term reprieve for the administration as it presses a challenge to a lower court ruling last month that blocked the tariffs. The Justice Department had argued that US officials’ concerns about ongoing trade negotiations outweighed the economic harm claimed by the small businesses that sued.
The Washington-based court put the case on an expedited track, citing the “issues of exceptional importance” at stake, and scheduled arguments for July 31. The court did not offer a detailed reason for siding with the administration at this stage, indicating in the order that the government had met its burden for showing that keeping the lower court’s injunction on hold was “warranted”. No judge noted a dissent.
The Trump administration asked the appeals court to step in after the US Court of International Trade last month ruled that Trump had misused an emergency law to implement the tariffs. Absent swift intervention by the US Supreme Court, the levies will likely stay in place for months, if not longer, as the rest of the legal fight plays out before the Washington-based appellate court.
Tuesday’s order comes a month before Trump’s own 90-day pause on most of his sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire. On July 9, US tariff rates are set to increase drastically for many nations, absent a trade or further extension. Goods from the European Union, for instance, are facing a 50 per cent levy.
Companies led by New York wine importer V.O.S. Selections Inc. claimed that letting the tariffs go into effect would lead to much higher costs and lower sales, with some of them likely to end up in bankruptcy. The administration argued that blocking the tariffs would disrupt US diplomacy and intrude upon the president’s power to conduct foreign affairs.