WASHINGTON D.C. – May 30, 2025
A federal appeals court has temporarily paused a significant ruling that found President Donald Trump overstepped his authority with his expansive “Liberation Day” tariff agenda.
The decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday temporarily reinstated Trump’s tariffs, which had set a 10 percent baseline tax on all imports, pending further legal challenges.
The appellate court’s move comes after the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled on Wednesday that the president could not “unilaterally impose, revoke, pause, reinstate, and adjust tariffs to reorder the global economy” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The CIT judges had found that Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which also imposed even higher taxes on imports from nearly every trading partner, illegally exceeded the authority granted by the IEEPA.
In their Wednesday ruling, the CIT judges also specifically rejected the president’s use of emergency powers to tax Mexican, Canadian, and Chinese imports.
They argued that these tariffs did not specifically “deal with an unusual and extraordinary threat with respect to which a national emergency has been declared,” as required by law.
“An unlimited delegation of tariff authority would constitute an improper abdication of legislative power to another branch of government,” the three-judge CIT panel wrote in their unsigned order.
The panel comprised Judge Jane Restani (a Ronald Reagan appointee), Judge Gary Katzmann (a Barack Obama appointee), and Judge Timothy Reif (a Trump appointee).
They concluded that the president’s attempt to delegate “unlimited tariff authority is unconstitutional.”
The appellate court’s temporary stay means the CIT judgment is “temporarily stayed until further notice while this court considers the motions papers.”
The freeze is expected to remain in place until at least June 9, which is the deadline for both sides to submit their arguments.
The legal battle over the tariffs has ignited strong reactions from administration officials.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller previously branded the trade court’s ruling as “judicial tyranny.”
Before Thursday’s appeals court order, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had also sharply criticized the judiciary, vowing to take court rulings against Trump’s tariff agenda to the Supreme Court.
Leavitt accused judges of “brazenly abusing” the courts to “usurp the authority of President Trump.”
Addressing reporters at the White House, she stated, “There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process. America cannot function if President Trump, or any other president, for that matter, has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges.”
