A US federal appeals court on May 12 temporarily paused a lower-court ruling that had declared Donald Trump’s latest 10% global tariffs unlawful, leaving the duties in place while the case moves ahead. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an administrative stay while it considers the government’s request for a longer stay pending appeal. The practical effect is that importers will continue paying the 10% tariffs for now. [1, 3, 4, 5, 6]
The lower court, the US Court of International Trade, had ruled on May 7 that Trump’s use of Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose the tariffs was invalid. Its immediate block applied only to the plaintiffs, described in several reports as two small businesses and Washington state. [7, 8, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
US government lawyers told the court that leaving the ruling in place would “severely undermine” the administration’s trade agenda and trigger more lawsuits from importers, including against what they called “a malleable phrase.” [7]
The administration is pressing its appeal at the Federal Circuit and said it may seek emergency review by the US Supreme Court if needed. [7, 8, 1, 9, 4]
The dispute is part of a wider fight over Trump-era tariffs, including earlier duties struck down under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Officials said a refund process for those earlier tariffs is underway, though reports differ on the total and scope, with figures ranging around $35.5 billion. [7, 1, 2, 4, 6]
The case has immediate stakes for importers. More than 170,000 of them had already paid Section 122 deposits covering about 13 million entries, and March collections from the tariffs were about $8 billion. One report said the Section 122 tariff is scheduled to expire in July unless Congress extends it. [7, 8, 2, 9, 10, 4, 6]
