U.S. Appeals Court Reverses U.S. Trade Court Decision to Block President Trump’s Tariffs Executive Orders

A U.S. trade court blocked several of President Donald Trump’s executive orders imposing import tariffs in a ruling on Wednesday.

The Court of International Trade, a federal court that oversees civil actions arising from U.S. Customs and global trade laws, ruled that the U.S. Constitution gives only Congress the power to regulate trade and commerce with foreign nations. It also noted in its decision that President Trump does not have unlimited authority to use the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs broadly.

The trade court said the executive orders from February that imposed tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China to limit illegal immigration and illicit drugs from entering the country, and from April that placed reciprocal tariffs on most of the nation’s trading partners, were invalid. The court ordered the Trump Administration to issue new orders reflecting the permanent injunction within 10 days.

The Trump Administration filed a notice of appeal following the ruling, and a U.S. Appeals Court reversed the order on Thursday afternoon, allowing the administration to continue collecting tariffs under emergency powers (IEEPA).

This court ruling did not affect industry-specific import tariffs, including those on automobiles, automobile parts, or foreign-made steel and aluminum.

The full trade court ruling can be found here.

On Thursday, a second federal court made a similar decision. U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras said the IEEPA does not give President Trump the authority to impose recent tariffs. The Trump Administration could repeal this decision.

The Kentucky Chamber, along with state and federal elected officials from the Commonwealth, have voiced concerns about the harmful impact of tariffs on the business community. At an event with Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in April, Kentucky Chamber President and CEO Ashli Watts and U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell noted that tariffs are taxes on working Americans that hurt the country’s competitiveness.

“A trade war is not the way to economic prosperity,” Watts said, sharing that “these broad national policies have a very local impact for our businesses and Kentuckians.”

Broad-based import tariffs are estimated to cost Kentucky families $3,000 this year alone.

Stay tuned to The Bottom Line for updates on tariffs and federal trade policy.