US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs could remain while legal challenges are being resolved, clearing a hurdle for the time being, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. However, the tariff cases were expedited by the appeals court to be resolved this summer.
Donald Trump may now keep enforcing his “Liberation Day” tariffs on imports from most of the United States’ trading partners, in addition to a different set of tariffs imposed on Canada, China, and Mexico, following a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.
The Trump administration appealed to the US Court of International Trade’s ruling that the president had overstepped himself in imposing tariffs on the entire country under the pretext of a national emergency, which led to the verdict.
“Both sides have made substantial arguments on the merits. Having considered the traditional stay factors…the court concludes a stay is warranted under the circumstances,” according to the ruling.
The court wrote that the stay is pending the course of appeal and that the full panel of judges will expedite the case’s hearing.
“The court also concludes that these cases present issues of exceptional importance warranting expedited en banc consideration of the merits in the first instance,” the order stated.
Although the ruling was “unfortunate,” a plaintiff’s attorney expressed optimism that the accelerated review would soon provide a permanent answer.
“All I can say is the court’s decision is unfortunate. The Federal Circuit also indicated in its ruling today that there will be expedited consideration of the case, and we hope to get a ruling on the merits faster than usual,” said Ilya Somin, a law professor at Scalia Law School, George Mason University and plaintiff lawyer, in an email to CNN.
The White House referred to the stay as “a welcome development.”
In a statement, White House spokesman Kush Desai said, “The Trump administration is legally using the powers granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to address our country’s national emergencies of persistent goods trade deficits and drug trafficking. The US Circuit Court of Appeals’ stay order is a welcome development, and we look forward to ultimately prevailing in court.”
However, Trump’s earlier sector-wide tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, and auto parts are unaffected by the appeals court’s ruling.