U.S. appeals court reinstates Trump’s tariffs

The United States Court of Appeals has temporarily reinstated the most sweeping of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The court reinstated Trump’s tariffs on Thursday, May 29, 2025, a day after a U.S. trade court ruled that the president had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and ordered an immediate block on them.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington said it was pausing the lower court’s ruling to consider the government’s appeal, and ordered the plaintiffs in the cases to respond by June 5 and the administration by June 9, 2025.

Wednesday’s surprise ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade had threatened to kill or at least delay the imposition of Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs on imports from most U.S. trading partners and additional tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China.

The latter was related to his accusation that the three countries were facilitating the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

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The trade court’s three-judge panel ruled that the Constitution gave Congress, not the president, the power to levy taxes and tariffs, and that the president had exceeded his authority by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law intended to address threats during national emergencies.

Senior Trump administration officials had said they were undeterred by the trade court’s ruling, saying they expected either to prevail on appeal or employ other presidential powers to ensure the tariffs go into effect.

Markets have swung wildly through Trump’s on-and-off tariff changes. The S&P 500 index is up 4.1% since duties were announced, while European stocks have gained 2.0%.

Gold is up 5.9% from April 2, and the U.S. dollar index is down 4.4%. Ten-year Treasury yields have climbed 23 basis points to around 4.4%, Reuters reported.

However, U.S. stocks showed little reaction to the appeals court decision, having already pulled back from the rally sparked by Wednesday’s trade court ruling.

The Star