Trump’s Tariffs Remain: Federal Court Temporarily Freezes Their Repeal

Less than 24 hours after they were repealed by a federal court responsible for international trade issues, the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump were reinstated temporarily by another federal court, pending further review of the case. On Wednesday (May 28, 2025), the Federal Court for International Trade (ITC) ruled that Trump exceeded his powers by imposing generalized tariffs, as such decisions should be left to Congress. This decision halted the application of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, along with retaliatory tariffs imposed earlier in April on imported goods from most countries worldwide. The White House condemned the ruling, while U.S. trade partners welcomed it, with China specifically calling for the complete removal of additional tariffs. Trump described the ITC decision as ‘so wrong and so political’ and expressed hope that the Supreme Court would ‘reverse this terrible development threatening the country quickly and decisively.’ The government immediately appealed and indicated it would take the case to the Supreme Court to maintain the tariffs. The federal appeals court accepted the government’s request, noting it would handle both the ITC decision and the Trump administration’s appeal against it. While China urged the U.S. government to fully repeal the unilateral and unjustified tariffs, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Karni celebrated the suspension of ‘illegal and unjustified’ tariffs but warned that trade relations with the U.S. remain under threat due to tariffs on steel, aluminum, and automobiles. The ITC specified that the U.S. President cannot invoke the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify executive orders imposing tariffs to levy unlimited additional duties on goods from almost all countries. According to judges, the April 2 executive orders imposing tariffs ranging from at least 10% on all imports up to 50%, depending on the country of origin, exceed presidential authority under IEEPA, which permits action only in cases of ‘extraordinary and unusual’ economic emergencies.