The Left can’t catch a break. And it’s only getting worse.
Now an appeals court slapped Democrats with a devastating loss they never saw coming.
Trump’s Tariff Vision Faces Judicial Pushback
President Trump’s aggressive tariff policies, aimed at leveling the playing field for American workers, hit a judicial roadblock when the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade ruled that he overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The court blocked 6.7 percentage points of the levies, including a 10% duty on dozens of countries, 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 20% on China to combat illegal fentanyl trafficking, giving the White House 10 days to roll them back.
However, on Thursday, a full 11-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a stay, preserving Trump’s tariffs pending a White House appeal.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro dismissed concerns about the pause, stating, “The pause will not affect the negotiations in any way if people out there in the world simply look at the court decision.” He emphasized Trump’s authority, noting, “The court was clear, as I said, that [the] President has broad authority to impose tariffs.” This resilience underscores Trump’s determination to maintain pressure on trading partners, reinforcing his America-first trade stance.
Defending Executive Power and Economic Strategy
The White House swiftly condemned the lower court’s ruling as an overreach, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt accusing the judges of “brazenly abus[ing] their judicial power to usurp the authority of President Trump to stop him from carrying out the mandate that the American people gave him.”
She warned that the decision was “threatening to undermine the credibility of the United States on the world stage” and affirmed that “the administration has already filed an emergency motion for a stay pending appeal and an immediate administrative stay to strike down this egregious decision.”
Leavitt called on the Supreme Court to intervene, stating, “Ultimately, the Supreme Court must put an end to this for the sake of our Constitution and our country.” White House spokesman Kush Desai echoed this sentiment, arguing that unfair trade practices have “decimated American communities, left our workers behind and weakened our defense industrial base – facts that the court did not dispute.”
Trump’s team remains confident, with Navarro noting that countries are already responding, saying, “This morning, we were getting plenty of phone calls from countries saying, ‘We saw the rule,’ and so what we’re going to continue to [do is] negotiate in good faith.” This defiance highlights Trump’s unwavering commitment to using tariffs as a tool to restore economic strength.
Market Resilience and Alternative Paths Forward
Despite the judicial back-and-forth, Wall Street remained unfazed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 117 points, the Nasdaq gaining nearly 75 points, and the S&P 500 rising over 23 points on Thursday.
Analysts like Morgan Stanley’s Michael Zezas suggested Trump’s tariffs are far from defeated, noting, “The tariff levels that we had yesterday are probably going to be the tariff levels that we have tomorrow, because there are so many different authorities the administration can reach into to put it back together.” He added that Trump’s power to “raise and escalate — it might be a little bit slower moving, but it is still there.”
Goldman Sachs’ Alec Phillips called the ruling “a setback for the administration’s tariff plans and increases uncertainty but might not change the final outcome for most major US trading partners,” predicting that “for now, we expect the Trump administration will find other ways to impose tariffs.”
The administration signaled reluctance to pivot immediately to alternative methods, with National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett telling Fox Business Network, “There are different approaches that would take a couple of months, but we’re not planning to pursue those right now because we’re very, very confident that this really is incorrect.”
Despite warnings from economists about potential inflation—evidenced by price hikes like Samsung DU7200 TVs rising to $427 from $400 and Xbox Series X jumping to $600 from $500—Phillips noted that the tariffs’ projected $200 billion in annual revenue, close to the deficit increase from a recent Republican tax bill, remains viable.
Capital markets analyst Adam Kobeissi estimated that $10 billion in tariff revenue has been collected since Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement, underscoring the policy’s tangible impact.
