A federal court has struck down much of President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs in a ruling Wednesday, the Washington Examiner reported. The U.S. Court of International Trade determined that it is not within the president's powers, but the administration immediately appealed.
This court's decision immediately nullified the flat 10% rate Trump imposed on most imported goods on April 2. However, the 25% tariff on steel, aluminium, automobiles, and their components was left untouched as it was enacted under a different law.
Democrats were happy about the development as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul took to X, formerly Twitter, to rejoice. "BREAKING: We sued the Trump Administration over their ridiculous tariff policy — and we WON! A tariff is just a backdoor tax. New York is fighting to stop these tariffs and put money back in your pocket," Hochul said.
BREAKING: We sued the Trump Administration over their ridiculous tariff policy — and we WON!
A tariff is just a backdoor tax. New York is fighting to stop these tariffs and put money back in your pocket. https://t.co/jJtF61BuFM
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) May 28, 2025
Wednesday's decision came from a three-judge panel including a Trump appointee, a Reagan appointee, and an Obama appointee. They examined the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 and whether it "delegates these powers to the President in the form of authority to impose unlimited tariffs on goods from nearly every country in the world," they wrote.
"The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder," the decision noted. Of course, the White House objected to such a standard that hinders the president's powers.
"Foreign countries’ nonreciprocal treatment of the United States has fueled America’s historic and persistent trade deficit. These deficits have created a national emergency that has decimated American communities, left our workers behind, and weakened our defense industrial base — facts that the court did not dispute," White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
"It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency. President Trump pledged to put America First, and the Administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American Greatness," Desai added.
The challenge came from New York, Arizona, and Oregon, which sued over the implementation of these tariffs. However, the administration was quick to appeal the decision.
The Trump administration filed an appeal on Wednesday evening, almost immediately after the judges' ruling, CNN reported. The subsequent reversal from the United States Court of Appeals allows Trump to continue to impose tariffs.
Trump had used emergency powers to push through the tariffs, and the appeal will allow that to continue for now. In the meantime, the administration and the states objecting will have to file court documents arguing their positions.
Despite the setback, Trump's lead trade adviser, Peter Navarro, is undeterred and said "all strategic options" will be employed. "We will hear, within the next day or two, at a minimum, from the United States Trade Representative on how we will respond to all of this," Navarro said.
"We will respond forcefully, and we think we have a very good case with respect to this. I can assure the American people that the Trump tariff agenda is alive, well, healthy, and will be implemented to protect you, to save your jobs and your factories and to stop shipping foreign wealth, our wealth, into foreign hands," Navarro said about the future of the tariffs.
Although this was undoubtedly a setback for the Trump administration, the push and pull is part of what keeps power in check on both sides. Trump has many more tricks up his sleeve when it comes to his innovative economic policies, and it's unlikely this will stop here.
