A group of almost all Democrat-appointed judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled on Friday that most of President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on countries went beyond the scope of his authority. Using emergency powers granted to him by Congress to impose emergencytariffs, Trump announced them on “Liberation Day,” April 2, affecting almost every country in the world. They apply to 69% of the goods entering the U.S. The court’s decision would shrink that to only 16% of goods. The appeals court delayed the injunction from going into effect until October, to give the Trump administration time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The ruling upheld an earlier decision by the U.S. Court of International Trade, but went further. The lower court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) gave Trump some authority over tariffs, but stated it was not unlimited. While previous presidents have not invoked the IEEPA to implement tariffs, they have used it to issue sanctions.
The majority took a tortured, twisted interpretation of the IEEPA to come to its decision. The court said that since the IEEPA did not use the precise word tariff, or a similar word, that the law could not be interpreted to include them.
The IEEPA grants the president authority to “regulate … importation … of … any property” under specified conditions. In an amicus curiae brief filed by America First Legal and Coalition for a Prosperous America, which used similar reasoning to the dissent, the attorneys noted that in United States v. Yoshida Int’l, Inc., a previous version of the U.S. Court of International Trade held that the President was authorized to “impos[e] an import duty surcharge” because “impos[ing] duties can be to ‘regulate’” the importation of the items on which duties are imposed.
In Regan v. Wald, the Supreme Court “gave the President ‘essentially the same’ powers,” the brief said. The attorneys went over multiple Supreme Court decisions where the court said the President couldn’t be limited to certain monetary methods. In Federal Energy Administration v. Algonquin SNG, Inc., the nation’s highest court held, “[L]imiting the President to the use of quotas would effectively and artificially prohibit him from directly dealing with some of the very problems against which [the statute] is directed.”
The brief concluded, “[T]he Supreme Court has held that ‘adjusting imports’ allows for charges like tariffs and that ‘adjusting’ means the same as ‘regulating,’ and IEEPA authorizes ‘regulating imports.’Taken together, that means IEEPA authorizes tariffs, too.”
Trump said the unfair U.S. trade deficit with other countries justified the emergency. He placed tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico for not doing enough to stop the illegal influx of fentanyl.
Hypocritically, the decision left in place his tariffs on aluminum and steel. Sector specific tariffs are known as Section 232 tariffs. Tariffs on goods valued at $800 or less, known as the “de minimus” exception, will also remain in place. Additionally, the court left in place tariffs Trump placed on China during his first term, which the Biden administration extended.
There is no reason to treat some tariffs differently than others, when they all have crucial justifications behind them. Fentanyl especially has created a crisis within the U.S. According to the CDC, in 2023, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were involved in 72,776 overdose deaths in the U.S.
The lawsuit was brought by mostly far left Democratic state attorneys general, and consolidated with another lawsuit filed by some businesses. Six Democrat-appointed judges and one Republican-appointed judge issued the majority opinion. Two Democrat-appointed judges and two Republican-appointed judges dissented.
An analysis from the Congressional Budget Office found that tariffs will reduce U.S. deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. In April, the White House issued a lengthy list of reasons why tariffs work.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a declaration to the court that the decision, if allowed to stand, “would cause massive and irreparable harm to the United States and its foreign policy and national security both now and in the future. Such a ruling would threaten broader U.S. strategic interests at home and abroad, likely lead to retaliation and the unwinding of agreed-upon deals by foreign-trading partners, and derail critical ongoing negotiations with foreign-trading partners.”
The law appears to be clear cut, which is why the Trump administration is confident the Supreme Court will reverse this tortured decision. While the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that lone U.S. district court judges can no longer issue nationwide injunctions, only injunctions that affect their jurisdictions or the jurisdictions of the plaintiffs filing the lawsuits — such as Democratic state attorneys general — appeals court judges are still free to issue rogue rulings in their circuits, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction on federal matters.
The Supreme Court only takes about 80 cases per year, leaving many rogue appellate court decisions in place in their jurisdictions. Fortunately, since this case is of such high national interest, it is very unlikely the Supreme Court will not accept certiorari. The fact the appeals court stayed implementation of its decision until the highest court decides whether to take it is a sign the justices believe their decision will be reversed.
While the Supreme Court under Trump has only a semi-favorable record in terms of its rulings regarding his administration and conservative issues, the epidemic of rogue judges across the country has put the nation into turmoil, coming close to a constitutional crisis since the judges are effectively usurping the executive branch and Article II of the Constitution. The Supreme Court’s previous rulings have made it clear they are putting their foot down and keeping in place the checks and balances of three branches of government that our country was founded on.
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