Trump Tariffs Temporarily Preserved As Appeals Court Pauses Lower Ruling

by Erica Kollmann Benzinga Staff Writer

Zinger Key Points

A federal appeals court grants the Trump administration a temporary stay on a lower-court ruling that invalidated most Trump's tariffs.
The stay will remain in effect until further notice.
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A federal appeals court on Thursday granted the Trump administration a temporary stay on a lower-court ruling that invalidated most of the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

What Happened: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a temporary stay on the judgment of the U.S. Court of International Trade, which had previously struck down a significant portion of Trump’s tariffs, reported CNBC.

The stay will remain in effect until further notice, allowing the Trump administration to argue for the suspension of the trade court’s ruling throughout the appeals process.

The plaintiffs, which include state attorneys general and several domestic businesses, have been given a week to respond to the Trump administration’s request for a stay pending appeal.

The Trump administration must submit its legal brief defending the use of IEEPA to impose the tariffs by June 9.

Why It Matters: Goldman Sachs economist Alec Phillips suggested earlier on Thursday that the Trump administration could shift its focus to sector-specific tariffs, which are still firmly supported by Section 232 — the same legal basis Trump previously used for tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles.

“Uncertainty regarding the IEEPA-based tariffs could lead the White House to put more emphasis on sectoral tariffs, where there is much less legal uncertainty,” Phillips said.

As a result, new tariffs could soon target products such as semiconductors, electronics, and pharmaceuticals — areas that Trump's trade officials have already considered.

These measures would be implemented under Section 232, which the court's decision does not affect, and could raise overall U.S. tariff rates by an additional 4.9 percentage points.

Markets React: The S&P 500, as tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY, and the Nasdaq 100, as tracked by the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ, dipped slightly after Thursday’s market close.