TMTPOST -- A federal appeals court on Thursday granted a request from the White House to temporarily pause the lower U.S. court』s ruling blocking the Trump administration』s tariffs on worldwide trading partners.
Credit：Xinhua News Agency
The "request for an immediate administrative stay is granted to the extent that the judgments and the permanent injunctions entered by the Court of International Trade in these cases are temporarily stayed" until at least June 9 while the appeal court considers whether the ruling should be suspended for a longer period, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a brief ruling.
The appeal court』s decision means U.S. President Donald Trump』s tariffs would remain in effect in at least ten days. After June 9, the aforementioned trade court can issue an order of enforcement.
"The plaintiffs-appellees are directed to respond to the United States's motions for a stay no later than June 5, 2025," the decision of the appeal court read. "The United States may file a single, consolidated re-ply in support no later than June 9, 2025."
The ruling is "merely a procedural step as the court considers the government』s request for a longer stay pending appeal," said Jeffrey Schwab, an attorney for the plaintiffs, in a statement. The plantiffs are confident the Federal Circuit will ultimately deny the government』s motion, according to Schwab.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett touted the ruling as "a big victory for the president." "We're very pleased with the ruling," the White House economic advisor told Fox News.
Prior to the Federal Circuit』s decision, Hassett pointed out the Trump administration has different options to get around the trade court』s ruling, but it』s not planning to pursue these approaches at the moment since it would take a couple of months to put them in place.
Hassett expressed confidence that the ruling would be overturned on appeal. He said he fully believes Trump』s orders to use tariffs to ensure fair trade are perfectly legal and will resume soon. The advisor also said the ruling would not affect the existing trade talks with other countries, expecting more trade deals to be made in coming weeks.
Peter Navarro, the White House senior counsel for trade and manufacturing, said the Trump administrative has multiple options to keep collecting tariffs and would manage to reinstate its tariffs even if it eventually lose the case.
The three-judge Court of International Trade in Manhattan on Wednesday ordered permanently halt orders regarding tariffs and barred all modifications to them, effectively blocking the Trump administration』s tariffs dating back to February 1, including the reciprocal tariffs against almost all the U.S. trading partners announced on April 2, the self-proclaimed 「Liberation Day」.
The panel of federal judges ruled the the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), that Trump invoked to justify the tariffs, doesn』t authorize any of the Trump』s tariff order. "The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder," the judges said in their decision.
The Trump administration appealed the trade court』s ruling Wednesday night to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
「It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency,」 White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement. He added that the administration is "committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American Greatness."
Earlier Thursday, Trump suggested the administration would seek a Supreme Court battle to challenge the ruling. "Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY," the president wrote in a social media post .
The Trump administration may ask Supreme Court as soon as Friday if the appeal court doesn』t grant at least a temporary pause on the trade court』s ruling, the U.S. Department of Justice disclosed in a filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday morning. The U.S. will seek the 「emergency relief」 from the nation』s highest court 「to avoid the irreparable national-security and economic harms at stake,」 according to the filling.
