Federal appeals court pauses block on Trump tariffs

A Thursday decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit blocked a ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade less than 24 hours earlier that shelved most of the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump in April. Thursday's ruling restores Trump's ability to use emergency powers to order the tariffs.

Why were the tariffs blocked in the first place? The New York-based U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday permanently blocked most of President Trump’s tariff orders. The judges sided with 12 states and several businesses in a combined judgement, saying in their opinion that Trump overstepped his lawful authority. The court ordered the U.S. government to enact orders enforcing the ruling within 10 days. The government immediately appealed, according to Reuters.

What was the judges’ reasoning for the decision? Their opinion said Trump improperly used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to declare national emergencies and enact sweeping tariffs since January. The act doesn’t give the president unlimited tariff authority, as Congress has power to regulate trade under the Constitution, the judges said. They also wrote that even if the president did have such authority, trade deficits have existed for decades and shouldn’t be considered an emergency.

Did the ruling block all tariffs? The ruling struck down all worldwide and retaliatory tariffs Trump imposed on April 2, most of which are currently on pause. It also blocked the additional duties on China, Canada, and Mexico. However, the ruling left in place some tariffs on autos, steel, and other sectors that didn’t rely on emergency powers.

But now tariffs are back on. So what's next? In its ruling on Thursday, the appeals court ordered both sides to submit written arguments on the legality of the tariffs. Those arguments are due by early next month, according to CNN.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on a court’s temporary block of the termination of congestion pricing in New York.