A trade court struck down Trump's 10% global tariffs under Section 122; the Federal Circuit immediately stayed the ruling, keeping duties in place during appeal.
A divided panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade struck down the Trump administration's 10% global tariffs imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 on May 7, holding that the administration lacked statutory authority to sustain them [1]. The 2-1 decision marks the second time a federal court has invalidated the legal foundation for the administration's sweeping tariff program, following the Supreme Court's February ruling that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were also unlawful [2]. Five days after the CIT's decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an administrative stay, leaving the 10% duties in place while the government pursues its appeal [2].
The ruling originated in a challenge before the Court of International Trade, a specialized Article III tribunal that hears disputes over import duties and customs law [1]. The panel split 2-1, with the majority finding that the administration's invocation of Section 122 could not support the tariff regime as structured [1]. The Liberty Justice Center was among the organizations involved in the litigation [3]. The Federal Circuit's administrative stay, issued on May 12, is a procedural mechanism that preserves the status quo rather than a merits ruling, meaning no appellate judge has yet assessed whether the CIT majority's statutory analysis was correct [2] [3].
The substantive stakes are significant. Section 122 grants the president authority to impose temporary import surcharges in response to balance-of-payments deficits, subject to statutory time limits and congressional oversight mechanisms [3]. The CIT majority's finding that those conditions were not satisfied narrows the executive branch's remaining statutory options for imposing broad, non-product-specific tariffs [1]. With the IEEPA pathway already closed by the Supreme Court and Section 122 now invalidated at the trial-court level, the administration's legal inventory for global tariff authority is shrinking [2]. Importers, however, continue to pay the 10% duties in full under the stay, creating ongoing compliance obligations with uncertain permanence [3].
The Federal Circuit will now move toward briefing on the government's appeal. If the appellate court affirms the CIT, the administration could seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court, replicating the procedural arc of the IEEPA litigation [2]. Trade practitioners note that the outcome will determine whether Section 122 can serve as a viable independent basis for executive tariff authority or is effectively foreclosed as a policy tool [3]. A final appellate decision, absent Supreme Court intervention, could arrive before the end of the current term.
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