Tariff case: Trump administration to seek US Supreme Court intervention on Friday

US President Donald Trump

The Trump administration said it would ask the US Supreme Court to intervene as soon as Friday if a federal appeals court doesn’t immediately put on hold a decision finding that most of the president’s tariffs are illegal.

In a Thursday court filing in Washington, the Justice Department said the decision a day earlier by the US Court of International Trade harmed the government’s diplomacy and intruded upon President Donald Trump’s exclusive authority to conduct foreign affairs. It asked the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to put the ruling on hold while the administration pursued a formal appeal.

“Absent at least interim relief from this court, the United States plans to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court tomorrow,” the administration said.

The government is moving quickly to try to keep the sweeping tariffs in effect. The trade court gave the administration a 10-day window to “effectuate” its order. The Justice Department on Wednesday also asked that court to put its own ruling on hold, similarly citing the ongoing negotiations.

In a ruling that took many by surprise, a three-judge panel of the trade court held that Trump exceeded the authority granted him by a 1977 emergency law in imposing his “Liberation Day” global tariffs and other sweeping levies. The decision was handed down in a pair of related suits filed by a group of small businesses and about a dozen Democratic-led states.

The administration’s Thursday filing highlights the same arguments that the Trump administration has pressed throughout the case, including that the courts are not permitted to question the president’s decision to invoke the emergency law. The government also argues that Trump’s interpretation of the statute should be upheld because the trade court decades ago allowed former President Richard Nixon to issue tariffs on an emergency basis under a similar law.

The plaintiffs are likely to file responses to the government’s request for a pause of the ruling.

The trade court’s ruling applies to Trump’s global 10% tariff, his much-higher “reciprocal” levies and those targeting China, Canada and Mexico over alleged fentanyl trafficking. Other tariffs, including those on steel, aluminum and automobiles, were imposed under different laws and were unaffected by Wednesday’s ruling.

Despite the Justice Department’s claims of harm from the ruling, administration officials on Thursday largely downplayed its significance. They expressed confidence that the decision would be overturned on appeal and said the president had other tariff powers available to him.

Like the trade court, the Federal Circuit is a specialized tribunal that only hears certain kinds of cases. Among lawyers, it’s best-known for deciding patent cases.