Topline
President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs will remain in effect for now despite Wednesday's ruling declaring them unlawful, as a federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the tariffs can stay while it deliberates on the case—though they still could be struck down later.
President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order imposing tariffs on April 2 in Washington, ... More
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit paused a lower court’s order that declared Trump’s tariffs to be unlawful, meaning the tariffs will remain in effect while the appeals court decides whether or not to uphold the Court of International Trade’s ruling.
That means Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs will remain in place until at least June 9, based on the dates the court gave for the Trump administration and plaintiffs in the case to submit court filings over whether the appeals court should issue a lengthier order keeping the tariffs in effect.
The Trump administration asked for the tariffs to stay in effect while they appeal Wednesday’s ruling, in which the Court of International Trade struck down Trump’s sweeping April 2 tariffs as being unlawful because the president didn’t have authority to impose sweeping tariffs under the law he used to justify them.
While the tariffs are in effect for now, if an appeals court or the Supreme Court ultimately sides with the Court of International Trade and says they’re unlawful, the Trump administration will have to refund any tariffs that it collects.
The Federal Circuit could still ultimately decide Trump’s tariffs are unlawful and should be struck down—or halted while the litigation moves forward—despite them siding with the president in Thursday’s ruling. The dispute over the tariffs’ legality is ultimately expected to play out at the Supreme Court, though it’s unclear when and how justices could rule on the issue. Attorneys for the businesses that sued Trump in the Court of International Trade—one of two lawsuits at the heart of Wednesday and Thursday’s rulings—told reporters Thursday they were “guardedly optimistic” about their chances of winning before the appeals court, given how strongly the Court of International Trade ruled in favor of their position.
The Federal Circuit’s decision was one of two rulings that came out Thursday on Trump’s tariffs, as a federal district judge in Washington, D.C., also declared the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs unlawful in a separate lawsuit. The order in that case only applied to the specific businesses that brought the lawsuit, so even though the Federal Circuit has now put Trump’s tariffs back in effect, those companies will not be subject to the tariffs. The district court’s ruling will not stop the Trump administration from levying tariffs on any other imported goods.
This story is breaking and will be updated.