A federal appeals court has approved of President Trump’s backup tariff plan — at least, for now.

On Thursday, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit extended a block on a lower court ruling striking down the tariffs.

This means that President Trump can keep collecting 10% global tariffs under Section 122 temporarily as the further litigation continues.

Here are the details:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 11 temporarily extended a pause of a lower ruling that struck down President Donald Trump’s 10-percent global tariffs.

The appeals court granted the Trump administration’s motion to extend the stay of an injunction preventing collection of the tariffs in an unsigned order. This means the federal government may continue collecting the tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 for the time being as the current appeal plays out.

ADVERTISEMENT

On May 7, the U.S. Court of International Trade struck down the global tariffs in a 2–1 ruling in favor of small businesses and several states. The court invalidated the temporary 10 percent value-based import duty layered atop existing tariffs on most goods from all countries.

Challengers argued that the tariffs were an attempt to sidestep a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Trump had relied on Section 122, which allows duties for up to 150 days to remedy balance-of-payments deficits or combat dollar depreciation.

The trade court majority found that the president exceeded what the statute allowed and issued a permanent injunction. The Trump administration appealed, leading to an initial administrative stay on May 12 and now a formal stay while the appeal is pending.

As you may remember, President Trump announced his plans to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122 following the Supreme Court decision in February that struck down his IEEPA tariffs.

This backup plan was subsequently challenged in court, and a lower court tried to block them.

The Trump administration has since appealed that decision.

The Hill provided some additional background:

A group of Democratic-controlled states and two small businesses filed the challenges, saying the president is acting beyond his authority to enact a global trade war.

“We are disappointed that the injunction was not left in place, especially after the Court of International Trade (CIT) concluded that it should be,” Sara Albrecht, CEO and chair of Liberty Justice Center, a libertarian public-interest firm that represents the businesses, said in a statement.

ADVERTISEMENT

“But today’s order is not a ruling on the merits, and we were not surprised by it. Injunctive relief is always extraordinary,” she continued, vowing to press ahead.

Trump imposed the 10 percent rate on most imports after the Supreme Court ruled in February that he could not invoke an emergency statute to impose his so-called Liberation Day tariffs.

To impose the new one, Trump pointed to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. It authorizes the president to temporarily surcharge imports up to 15 percent “to deal with large and serious United States balance-of-payments deficits” whenever there are “fundamental international payment problems.”

The suits have left courts grappling with the meaning of “balance-of-payments.” The trade court adopted a narrower view, suggesting Congress was aimed at solving issues related to the fixed exchange rate system, which the U.S. moved away from decades ago.

The Federal Circuit suggested Thursday that those judges “may be incorrect.”

“Given that the legislative history contains ample support for the federal government’s proposed gloss, we do not agree that the legislative history provides a clear indication that Congress intended the CIT majority’s narrow interpretation nor that it is the best reading,” the unsigned opinion reads.

Today’s federal appeals court ruling signals that the Trump administration’s appeal is likely to succeed — which would be a massive win for America!

AP News reported further:

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington decision handed a procedural win to the Trump administration, concluding that its case was “likely to succeed on the merits.’’

At issue are temporary 10% worldwide tariffs President Donald Trump imposed after the Supreme Court in February struck down even broader double-digit tariffs the president had imposed last year on almost every country on Earth. The new tariffs, invoked under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, are set to expire July 24.

ADVERTISEMENT

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.