WASHINGTON: A United States federal appeals court is allowing President Donald Trump’s global tariffs to remain in effect for now while it considers the case on an expedited track.
The decision on Tuesday (Jun 10) extends temporary reprieve for the Trump administration as officials push back on a ruling by a lower court that blocked the president’s wide-ranging levies.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said it would fast-track its consideration of the case given the “issues of exceptional importance” at stake.
Arguments are scheduled for Jul 31, the court order showed, meaning the tariffs are likely staying in place for at least two more months.
Trump on Wednesday said the Court of Appeals had ruled that the US can use tariffs to “protect itself against other countries” and hailed the decision as “a great and important win for the US”.
Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has moved to redraw US trade ties with the world while using tariffs as a negotiating tactic to pressure foreign governments.
In early April, he unveiled sweeping levies on most trading partners, imposing a baseline 10 per cent levy while threatening steeper duties on dozens of economies, including the European Union.
These duties were blocked from going into effect after the US Court of International Trade ruled in May that the US president had overstepped his authority with across-the-board global levies this year.
The trade court’s ruling also quashed duties that Trump imposed on Canada, China and Mexico separately using emergency powers.
Although the appeals court has allowed Trump’s tariffs to remain while the administration’s challenge proceeds, the group of small businesses that won the trade court ruling to block his levies have spoken up against this.
Preserving Trump’s sweeping tariffs while the appeals process is ongoing “would cause irreparable harm” to businesses and consumers across the country, the group said in a recent court filing
