A federal appeals court in Washington has temporarily paused the Wednesday ruling of a trade court and reinstated President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Thursday – at least until June 9 when it hears the administration’s arguments.
The US Court of International Trade had earlier ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and ordered an immediate block on them.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will consider the Trump administration’s appeal and ordered the plaintiffs in the cases to respond by June 5 and the administration by June 9.
President Trump has used federal emergency power to impose tariffs on most of the US’s trading partners – including additional tariffs against China, Canada and Mexico – with the hope that the US will get concessions from them.
In its ruling, the trade court said that only Congress had the power to levy taxes and tariffs, and not the president. It added that by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law intended to address threats during national emergencies, the president had exceeded his authority.
In its appeal on Thursday, the Justice Department said the trading court’s order was “rife with legal error” and that it hamstrings the President’s efforts “to eliminate our exploding trade deficit and reorient the global economy on an equal footing”.
Trump wrote a long post on his social media platform, Truth Social, calling it a “country-threatening decision”.
“The US 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 US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Court has just stayed the order by the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade,” said the President.
“The ruling by the US Court of International Trade is so wrong, and so political! Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, country-threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY. Backroom “hustlers” must not be allowed to destroy our Nation!
“The horrific decision stated that I would have to get the approval of Congress for these Tariffs. In other words, hundreds of politicians would sit around D.C. for weeks, and even months, trying to come to a conclusion as to what to charge other Countries that are treating us unfairly. If allowed to stand, this would completely destroy Presidential Power – The Presidency would never be the same!”
While most world leaders chose to be diplomatic in their reaction to the trade court ruling, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed it, saying it was “consistent with Canada’s longstanding position” that Trump’s tariffs were “unlawful, as well as unjustified”.
The Liberty Justice Center, the non-profit group representing five small businesses that sued over the tariffs, said the appeals court’s temporary stay was a procedural step.
Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel for the center, said the appeals court would ultimately agree with the small businesses that faced irreparable harm of “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.”
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