Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—U.S. Court of International Trade rules against Trump on tariffs, (May 29, 2025)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

“These tariffs are a massive tax hike on working families and American businesses that would have led to more inflation, economic damage to businesses of all sizes, and job losses across the country if allowed to continue,” said N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James.

The United States Court of International Trade yesterday ruled, in a per curiam order, that the law does not authorize any of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration under the IEEPA, including tariffs on China, Mexico, Canada, and the European Union. The court found the tariffs to be unlawful and ordered that they be permanently blocked.

Specifically, the court stated:

“The Constitution assigns Congress the exclusive powers to “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises,” and to “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations.” U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cls. 1, 3. The question in the two cases before the court is whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (“IEEPA”) delegates these powers to the President in the form of authority to impose unlimited tariffs on goods from nearly every country in the world. The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder.”

The court ordered that Executive Orders 14193, 14194, 14195, 14257, and all modifications and amendments are declared to be invalid as contrary to law and further ordered that the operation of the Challenged Tariff Orders and all modifications and amendments thereto are permanently enjoined. It ordered that within 10 calendar days “necessary administrative orders to effectuate the permanent injunction shall issue[.]”

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is part of one of the two lawsuits involved, stated: “The law is clear: no president has the power to single-handedly raise taxes whenever they like. These tariffs are a massive tax hike on working families and American businesses that would have led to more inflation, economic damage to businesses of all sizes, and job losses across the country if allowed to continue. This decision is a major victory for our efforts to uphold the law and protect New Yorkers from illegal policies that threaten American jobs and economy.”

The cases are Nos. 25-00066 and 25-00077.

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