A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a ruling issued by a lower trade court less than 24 hours earlier that blocked the Trump administration from imposing tariffs on U.S. trade partners without the input of Congress.
The order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., reinstated the blocked tariffs and gave the Trump administration until June 9 to respond to the court in writing regarding the legal basis of its appeal.
The appeals court ruling encompasses two similar lawsuits — one filed against the Trump administration by a group of small businesses, and the other by a group of 12 states led by Oregon. Those plaintiffs have until June 5 to reply to the appeals court.
The initial ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City found that the administration lacked the authority to impose sweeping tariffs on virtually all U.S. trading partners in April.
The international trade court concluded that neither the U.S.’s trade deficits with foreign nations nor the administration’s claims regarding the unchecked flow of undocumented immigrants and illegally trafficked fentanyl from China, Mexico and Canada constituted emergencies that allowed the executive branch to circumvent Congress by unilaterally imposing tariffs on imported goods.
The Trump administration immediately appealed that ruling and received a swift response from the appeals court, whose jurisdiction now supersedes the lower trade court.
President Donald Trump lashed out at the trade court judges following the appeals court decision in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
“The U.S. Court of International Trade incredibly ruled against the United States of America on desperately needed Tariffs but, fortunately, the full 11 Judge Panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Court has just stayed the order by the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade,” Trump wrote.
The president added: “Where do these initial three Judges come from? How is it possible for them to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America? Is it purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP?’ What other reason could it be?”
In fact, one of the jurists on the three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of International Trade, Timothy Reif, was appointed by Trump himself in 2019. Judge Jane Restani was appointed to the court in 1983 by Ronald Reagan, a fellow Republican president. The other panel member, Judge Gary Katzmann, was appointed in 2016 by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
Trump said later in the social media post that he is “very disappointed” in some of his judicial picks. He also claimed he received bad advice about judges during his first term from the Federalist Society, a conservative organization that advocates for an originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.
Another judge steps in to block tariffs
While that legal drama was playing out in Manhattan and D.C. courtrooms, another D.C.-based judge issued a memorandum opinion Thursday that offered a similar legal opinion to the one reached by the three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of International Trade.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, an Obama appointee, sided with two small businesses that had sued the Trump administration over its tariff policies. The businesses, which source most of their educational toys and products for children from countries in Asia, claimed they were suffering irreparable harm from Trump’s tariffs.
The Trump administration, in turn, sought to transfer the case to the Court of International Trade that is presiding over the other tariff cases.
Judge Contreras denied the administration’s request for transfer. He also stated that the crux of the case was not about the specific tariffs policies, but rather whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) gave Trump the authority to impose the tariffs without first going through the congressional legislative process.
“This case is not about tariffs qua tariffs,” Contreras wrote. “It is about whether IEEPA enables the President to unilaterally impose, revoke, pause, reinstate and adjust tariffs to reorder the global economy. The Court agrees with Plaintiffs that it does not.”
Contreras stayed his order for 14 days so that the “parties may seek review in the Court of Appeals.” The Trump administration appealed the order the same day, which means the case now heads to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is separate from the Federal Circuit appeals court that is hearing the other tariff-related cases.
