The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has granted an emergency motion to continue collecting reciprocal tariffs filed by the current administration. 

This decision comes hot on the heels of the Manhattan-based US Court of International Trade deeming on Tuesday that a majority of President Trump’s tariffs were illegal because he had exceeded his authority in using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to create universal levies against most nations. 

In response, US government officials argued that halting the tariffs would critically affect the country’s national security, stating that the president is committed to leveraging his executive powers to ensure they take effect. The administration also noted that the court order had not interfered with any of the ongoing trade negotiations between nations including Canada, Japan, China and India. 

Several small US businesses have launched lawsuits against the US government over its controversial trade policies. They include Manhattan toy manufacturers Learning Resources and hand2mind, which were awarded a preliminary injunction in a separate case against the Trump administration’s tariffs in the US District Court for the District of Columbia yesterday. Judge Rudolph Contreras stated that the toycos stood to sustain significant and unrecoverable losses that are difficult to even quantify because the “president imposes, pauses, adjusts and reimposes the tariffs at will.”