Appellate Court Rules In Favor of Trump's Tariffs a Day After They Were Struck Down by Lower Court

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A federal appeals court placed a temporary stay Thursday on a lower trade court’s ruling from the previous day that had found that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs last month.

On what he billed as Liberation Day on April 2, Trump announced a universal 10 percent tariff and higher reciprocal tariffs for those countries his administration identified as being particularly egregious in blocking U.S. products from their markets.

The Associated Press reported that there were at least seven plaintiffs who challenged the levies in court.

They argued that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act that Trump relied on did not authorize the president to impose tariffs.

Further, even if it did, the plaintiffs contended that the record trade deficit of $1.2 trillion in 2024 did not constitute an emergency, pointing out the U.S. has had a trade imbalance for the last 49 years.

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade, based in New York City, ruled against Trump, “The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder.”

“Because of the Constitution’s express allocation of the tariff power to Congress … we do not read IEEPA to delegate an unbounded tariff authority to the President,” the judges added.

Therefore, “The challenged Tariff Orders will be vacated and their operation permanently enjoined.”

Rather than issue a temporary injunction, the judges issued a summary judgment for the plaintiffs, ending the case before the court entirely.

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The Trump administration appealed the ruling to the Washington D.C.-based Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which placed a stay on the lower court’s ruling.

“The judgments and the permanent injunctions entered by the Court of International Trade in these cases are temporarily stayed until further notice while this court considers the motions papers,” the order read.

The Trump administration has been given until June 9 to file its legal brief.

Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel at Liberty Justice Center, which represents a group of the plaintiffs, called Thursday’s appeals court ruling a “procedural step” and predicted an eventual ruling in their clients’ favor, The Hill reported.

“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,” he said.

“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,” Schwab added.

Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to the lower court’s ruling, saying, “Three judges of the U.S. Court of International Trade disagreed, and brazenly abused their judicial power to usurp the authority of President Trump to stop him from carrying out the mandate that the American people gave him.”

She continued, “These judges failed to acknowledge that the President of the United States has core foreign affairs powers and authority given to him by Congress to protect the United States’ economy and national security.”

Leavitt also noted, “Congress had created the National Emergency Act to provide the congressional framework to strike down improper IEEPA use. And any questions over whether Trump improperly imposed these IEEPA tariffs were already adjudicated in Congress following Liberation Day.”

On April 30, the Senate voted down a Democrat-introduced resolution seeking to rescind Trump’s tariffs.

Contributing Journalist

SummaryMore Biographical InformationRecent PostsContact

Randy DeSoto has written more than 3,000 articles for The Western Journal since he began with the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths" and screenwriter of the political documentary "I Want Your Money."

Birthplace

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Nationality

American

Honors/Awards

Graduated dean's list from West Point

Education

United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law

Books Written

We Hold These Truths

Professional Memberships

Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars

Location

Phoenix, Arizona

Languages Spoken

English

Topics of Expertise

Politics, Entertainment, Faith

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