Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Temporarily Back in Play; US Appeals Court Stays Trade Court's Order

Trump administration got some breathing room as a US appeals court temporarily stayed the order given by the US Court of International Trade that struck down the April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday reinstated the said reciprocal tariffs, by staying the lower court’s ruling until further notice, while it considers the motion papers.

The appeals court ordered the plaintiffs in the cases to respond by June 5 and the administration by June 9, according to a Reuters report.

The Trump administration said in its appeal that the decision issued by the trade court had improperly second-guessed the president and threatened to unravel months of hard-fought negotiations with its trade partners, BBC reported.

"The political branches, not courts, make foreign policy and chart economic policy," the administration has said. “America cannot function if President Trump, or any other president, for that matter, has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges,” the White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing.

“You can assume that even if we lose [in court], we will do it [tariffs] another way,” BBC quoted Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, as saying.

The trade court on Wednesday ruled that Trump overstepped the powers conferred upon him and imposed sweeping tariffs. It also said that the emergency economic powers law invoked by the president does not give him the power to unilaterally implement the sweeping duties.

These tariffs, which rattled the market across the globe, were challenged by small businesses and a group of states in the US.

Now, after Trump’s tariff tantrums, this battle of courts over the tariff issue is expected to take a toll on the markets. The dollar that had initially risen against safe-haven currencies following the trade court’s decision late on Wednesday, has pared those gains and traded lower.