Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term, the tariff landscape has changed dramatically. Trump is the first US president to exercise his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs on foreign nations in response to a national emergency. This action has not come without scrutiny, however.
On May 28, the US Court of International Trade (CIT) invalidated the IEEPA tariffs, determining that Trump’s tariff actions went beyond the bounds of the limited grant of authority in IEEPA for the president to “regulate ... importation” and instead found the tariff actions to be an inappropriate exercise of “unlimited tariff authority” not granted under IEEPA. The CIT vacated the IEEPA tariffs and permanently enjoined the tariff collection. However, only a day after the CIT’s decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) temporarily stayed the CIT’s order, allowing collection of the IEEPA tariffs while the government’s appeal is pending.
Oral arguments on the merits of the case at the Federal Circuit are expected to occur by Jul. 31. Regardless of the Federal Circuit’s decision, there will likely be further appeals to the Supreme Court. Additionally, a federal judge in the District of Columbia determined that Trump acted outside of his authority under IEEPA and issued a preliminary injunction blocking the government from collecting tariffs from the plaintiffs in that case. The case is currently on appeal to the DC Circuit, only furthering the uncertainty around the fate of the IEEPA tariffs.
