(NewsNation) — A slew of court rulings this week first blocked a majority of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs before allowing them to carry on, at least temporarily.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade blocked Trump’s tariffs on global trading partners, including additional taxes on Mexico, Canada and China.
A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled in the administration’s favor, allowing those tariffs to continue.
As of Friday, many of Trump’s tariffs remained in place, though some were still blocked under a separate ruling issued by a federal judge in Washington, D.C.
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Which Trump tariffs were blocked?
On April 2, Trump imposed “Liberation Day” tariffs of up to 50% on countries with which the United States runs a trade deficit and 10% baseline tariffs on almost everybody else.
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He later suspended the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days to give countries time to negotiate trade agreements with the United States — and reduce their barriers to American exports. But he kept the baseline tariffs in place.
Claiming extraordinary power to act without congressional approval, he justified the taxes under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by declaring the United States’ longstanding trade deficits “a national emergency.”
The court’s Wednesday decision blocked those tariffs and questioned Trump’s use of IEEPA.
Why were Trump’s tariffs blocked?
The court decided Trump’s tariffs exceeded his authority to regulate imports under IEEPA and said trade deficits are not a national emergency.
“Regardless of whether the court views the President’s actions through the nondelegation doctrine, through the major questions doctrine, or simply with separation of powers in mind, any interpretation of IEEPA that delegates unlimited tariff authority is unconstitutional,” the court’s opinion said.
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Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles were spared from the court’s rulings, as they were imposed under Section 232 — a 1962 law giving the president the power to take action when the Commerce secretary finds an import into the U.S. represents a threat to national security.
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Trump has said he hopes the courts will ultimately rule in his favor, calling on the Supreme Court to weigh in on the U.S. Court of International Trade‘s decision, which he deemed “horrible” and “country-threatening.”
In a social media post, Trump said his presidential title means he “must be allowed to protect America against those that are doing it economic and financial harm.
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“As far as we’re concerned, our trade agenda is moving forward, and we’ve already heard from countries around the world today who will continue to negotiate in good faith with the United States so we can cut good trade deals on behalf of the American people,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
She said the administration “fully” expects to win the case in court.
The White House said trade negotiations are not stopping, no matter what happens in the courts. Leavitt said the phones are still ringing with nations across the globe trying to cut deals with the U.S. this week.
NewsNation’s Anna Kutz, partner The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
