The Trump administration indicated on Thursday that it might request the Supreme Court to intervene and reinstate a broad taxes scheme that the U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday night had blocked.
Government lawyers filed a court filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to request “emergency reduction” from the great judge” to avoid the catastrophic national security and economic harms at play,” but only if the appeals court doesn’t intervene too fast to halt the protection of the decision.
On March 18, 2015, the U.S. Court of International Trade is visible in front of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York. ( AP Photo/Mary Altaffer )
Following a three-judge panel’s decision to halt dozens of retaliatory tariffs on nations like China, Mexico, and Canada on Wednesday night, the administration is scrambling to keep President Donald Trump’s” Liberation Day” trade agenda. To give the leadership time to file an appeal, the judge imposed a 10-day stay.
Sosun Bae, a justice department attorney, blasted the decision in the Thursday filing as “unprecedented and officially indefensible,” warning that it could thwart months of gentle political negotiations and encourage foreign governments to fight against American exporters.
In its stay action, the DOJ stated that” the lawsuit formally disarms the United States.” ” Politics is made by the political trees, not by courts, and by monetary policy.”
In a blog on X, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller went further and called the choice” criminal dictatorship.”
” The judicial coup is out of control,” he continued.
Trump business adviser Peter Navarro claimed in a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday that the judge’s decision reeks of “globalist” bias and that the judges favor importers. Jason Miller, a Trump supporter, said to Fox Business,” We have these appointed judges who are trying to force their personal will when it comes to tax policy, business plan, and all issues of the market.”
The judges included Gary Katzmann, appointed by President Donald Trump, Timothy Reif, and Jane Restani, who was previously appointed by President Ronald Reagan. They determined that Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs was against the separation of powers and exceeded presidential authority.
The judges noted on page 35 of the decision that if the administration had relied on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, it would have been within its rights to impose the sweeping tariffs. The administration’s plan is to pursue a more permanent solution, according to Navarro’s statement on Thursday in response to why the administration did not choose this route. The section “only gives you 150 days” of implementation, which demonstrates this.
Trump’s plan to rebalance trade was a key component of his plan to penalize nations that have lopsided tariff policies or who contribute to the United States ‘ drug crisis through lax enforcement. The blocked tariffs were enacted in early April.
MARKETS HAVE A SUBTLE REACTION TO COURT STRIKING DOWN TRUMP’S” SWEEPING” TARIFFS
According to the DOJ filing, the decision “poses to the President’s recent breakthroughs with China and the United Kingdom,” warning that” the successful agreements the President has reached with multiple countries could be completely unraveled.”
The administration has filed a notice of appeal and is prepared to bring the case before the Supreme Court as soon as Friday, if necessary, even though the administration is attempting to halt the decision through the appeals court.
