May 29, 2025 02:30 PM UTC

Tariffs On…Tariffs Off…Tariffs On…

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• by: Colorado Pols

President Trump’s on-again, off-again Tariff War took a jarring set of turns in the last 24 hours.

As The Washington Post explains, Trump’s tariffs are back on again — at least for now — after a judge ruled them to be unconstitutional on Wednesday:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said Thursday afternoon that it would temporarily pause the effects of a decision from the Court of International Trade, which ruled Wednesday that most of Trump’s tariffs were illegal and must be halted.

The Trump Administration said in a court filing earlier in the day that it would ask the Supreme Court for emergency relief if the appeals court didn’t quickly pause the ruling.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing Thursday that the courts shouldn’t have a role in this issue.

As most experts have noted by now, it is the economic uncertainty created by Trump’s impulsive tariff proclamations that are sending the U.S. economy hurtling toward another recession.

As Reuters news service reports today:

Analysts said broad uncertainty remained regarding the future of Trump’s tariffs, which have cost companies more than $34 billion in lost sales and higher costs, according to a Reuters analysis. [Pols emphasis]

Emblematic of that uncertainty, a separate federal court earlier on Thursday had also found Trump overstepped his authority in using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for what he called “reciprocal” tariffs of at least 10% on goods from most U.S. trading partners and for the separate 25% levies on goods from Canada, Mexico and China related to fentanyl.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt today blasted the Court of International Trade ruling from Wednesday, calling the three-judge panel “activist judges” — ignoring the fact that one of the judges is a Trump appointee from his first term in the White House.

So what’s next? From CNN:

The Liberty Justice Center, which represented several companies suing to stop the tariffs, said in a statement Thursday that the decision by the appeals court “is merely a procedural step as the court considers the government’s request for a longer stay pending appeal.”

“We are confident the Federal Circuit will ultimately deny the government’s motion shortly thereafter, recognizing the irreparable harm these tariffs inflict on our clients,” Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel at Liberty Justice Center said in the statement.

This seems to be good business…if you are an attorney skilled at arguing about trade policies. For everyone else, this is just another day in Trump’s disastrous Tariff War.