The Federal Circuit stayed the Court of International Trade's May 7 ruling striking down Trump's 10% global tariffs, letting collection resume while the Section 122 appeal proceeds.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 12 administratively stayed a lower court ruling that had struck down the Trump administration's 10% global tariff program, allowing customs officials to resume collecting the levies while appellate briefing proceeds [1]. The stay halted, at least temporarily, what would have been a significant interruption to the administration's tariff revenue stream following the lower court's decision [2].
The underlying ruling came from the U.S. Court of International Trade, which on May 7 invalidated the 10% across-the-board global tariffs on the ground that the administration lacked statutory authority under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose such sweeping levies [1]. The Trump administration moved quickly to seek emergency appellate relief, arguing before the Federal Circuit that any tariff refunds paid out in reliance on the trade court's decision could not be clawed back if the government ultimately prevailed on appeal [2]. That irreversibility argument, a standard element of stay jurisprudence under the four-factor test courts apply to such requests, appeared to carry weight with the appellate panel [1].
The Section 122 question sits at the intersection of executive power and congressional trade authority, making it a dispute with implications well beyond this particular tariff schedule. Section 122 grants the president authority to impose temporary import surcharges in response to balance-of-payments deficits, but the statute's scope, specifically whether it authorizes a blanket global levy rather than targeted relief, has not been definitively resolved at the appellate level [2]. A Federal Circuit ruling on that question, whichever way it falls, is widely expected to be a candidate for Supreme Court review [1].
With the administrative stay in place, tariff collection continues under the pre-May 7 framework while the parties brief the merits of the appeal [2]. The administration must file its opening brief on an accelerated schedule; challengers will respond in turn before the Federal Circuit hears argument or rules on the merits of the stay and, eventually, the underlying statutory question [1]. Importers who had anticipated refunds following the trade court's ruling now face continued liability pending the appellate outcome.