The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on June 2 said the Court of International Trade has exclusive jurisdiction via Section 1581(i) to hear California's challenge to all tariff action taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said President Donald Trump's executive orders implementing the tariffs are laws of the U.S. for purposes of Section 1581(i), since they modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, and the law implementing the HTS, 19 U.S.C. 3004, says the HTS includes modifications made by the president (State of California v. Trump, N.D. Cal. # 3:25-03372).
The Court of International Trade on June 3 left the question of whether to stay its ruling vacating all executive orders imposing tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Judges Gary Katzmann, Timothy Reif and Jane Restani said that CAFC's "impending consideration of the motion to stay before it makes it unnecessary for this court to rule on the USCIT Motions to Stay" (V.O.S. Selections v. United States, CIT # 25-00066) (The State of Oregon v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Security, CIT # 25-00077).
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on June 3 stayed its decision finding that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn't provide for tariffs, pending the government's appeal of the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Judge Rudolph Contreras said a stay is "appropriate to protect the President’s ability to identify and respond to threats to the U.S. economy and national security" (Learning Resources v. Trump, D.D.C. # 25-01248).
Georgetown University law professor Jennifer Hillman said that while she expects the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to take months to decide if the tariff actions under emergency powers weren't legal, the court might not stay the vacation of the orders during that time.
The U.S. and Detroit Axle, an importer challenging the elimination of the de minimis threshold for Chinese products, sparred at the Court of International Trade on whether to stay the company's case in light of the trade court's decision to vacate all tariff executive orders issued by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (Axle of Dearborn, d/b/a Detroit Axle v. Dep't of Commerce, CIT # 25-00091).
The District Court for the District of Columbia on June 3 stayed its decision finding that the International Economic Emergency Powers Act doesn't confer tariff-setting authority and declaring that all tariff action taken under IEEPA is illegal. Judge Rudolph Contreras suspended his preliminary injunction on the collection of the tariffs from the plaintiffs, two small importers, as well as the "accompanying memorandum opinion," which said IEEPA doesn't provide for tariffs. The ruling is stayed pending the government's appeal of the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The judge said a stay is "appropriate to protect the President’s ability to identify and respond to threats to the U.S. economy and national security."
The U.S. on June 2 asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for an emergency stay of the D.C. district court's decision last week finding that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn't confer tariff-setting authority (see 2505290037). The government said that while the district court's preliminary injunction only extends to the plaintiffs, two small importers, the ruling undermines the president's ability to negotiate trade deals and wield broader diplomatic power (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, D.C. Cir. # 25-5202).
The District Court for Northern California on June 3 dismissed California's challenge to tariff action taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, finding that the Court of International Trade has exclusive jurisdiction to hear the matter under Section 1581(i), which says only CIT will hear cases arising out of U.S. laws providing for tariffs. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said President Donald Trump's executive orders implementing the tariffs are laws of the U.S. for purposes of Section 1581(i), since they modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, and the law implementing the HTS, Section 3004, says presidential action modifying the HTS is part of the HTS. Scott then dismissed the case instead of transferring, per California's request, to let the state appeal the decision.
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
The Court of International Trade gave plaintiffs in the two successful challenges to President Donald Trump's tariff action taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act more time to respond to the government's motion to stay the trade court's decision to vacate Trump's executive orders imposing the tariffs (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, Fed. Cir. # 25-1812).