Appeals court reinstates Trump tariffs after brief pause
A federal appeals court has put President Donald Trump's tariffs on global imports back in place, at least for now.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has temporarily stayed an earlier unanimous ruling from a panel of three federal judges on the United States Court of International Trade that found Trump exceeded his legal authority when he enacted reciprocal tariffs on imports from most countries on April 2, 2025.
The appeals court order said the trade court's ruling will be stayed while it considers the Trump administration's motions papers. The tariffs which had been halted included a baseline 10% tariff on virtually all imports, as well as an 125% additional levy on imports from China that brought the total tariff on some Chinese products to as high as 145%.
Roughly 60 countries which charge higher duties on U.S. imports had tariffs higher than 10% imposed on their goods coming into the country, although those tariffs have already paused until early July and the U.S. and China reached a 90-day pause on most tariffs on May 12.
[READ MORE: Trump pauses most China tariffs for 90 days]
The trade court’s ruling also nullified a 25% tariff on nearly all goods coming to the U.S. from Canada and all products being imported from Mexico which was put in place in March 2025 (although Trump had already exempted some products before the court issued its decision).
Earlier in May, Trump reached a trade agreement with U.K. prime minister Keir Starmer that will increase U.S. access to U.K. markets while limiting tariffs on U.K. imports. However, that agreement left the baseline 10% reciprocal tariff, which is now halted, in place.
In the ruling, the judges said that by imposing universal tariffs Trump exceeded the authority he is granted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which he invoked to implement tariffs without Congressional approval.
The ruling also said that certain tariffs imposed on China, Mexico and Canada over illegal fentanyl trafficking from those countries are invalid because they do not deal with threats relating to drug smuggling.
The trade court decision did not completely eliminate all the tariffs Trump has imposed since taking office in January 2025. Certain tariffs, including levies placed on aluminum and steel imports, will remain in place because Trump used a different legal rationale to implement them.
The order gave the Trump administration 10 days to follow the judges’ instructions and also permanently halts the tariffs and does not allow them to be modified.
Trump had been expected to appeal the ruling and CNBC reports there are a number of legal work-arounds to the court’s order he may also try to implement.
CNBC also reported that White House spokesperson Kush Desai publicly criticized the court for its decision.
"These deficits have created a national emergency that has decimated American communities, left our workers behind, and weakened our defense industrial base – facts that the court did not dispute," said Desai. "It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency."
