Court blocks emergency tariffs

A federal trade judge ordered customs officials to stop charging invalid emergency tariffs on affected imports and close out those entries without the duties. (thehill.com) Judge Richard Eaton of the United States Court of International Trade issued the order on March 4, 2026, after the Supreme Court ruled on February 20 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize presidents to impose tariffs. The order said unliquidated entries must be processed without those duties, and entries that are not yet final must be reliquidated the same way. (supremecourt.gov, courthousenews.com) The trade court’s refund process applies beyond the companies that sued. Sullivan & Cromwell said the March 4 order covered “all importers of record” who paid duties collected under the emergency-powers program. (sullcrom.com) The legal fight is about who gets to tax imports. The Supreme Court said Congress did not give that power through the 1977 emergency law Trump had used for tariffs on goods from China, Canada, Mexico and then much of the rest of the world. (supremecourt.gov, scotusblog.com) That left the administration to fall back on narrower trade laws. Hours after the Supreme Court ruling, Trump turned to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and imposed a new 10% global tariff that took effect on February 24, 2026. (nbcnews.com, whitecase.com) Section 122 is a temporary tool, not a blank check. PBS News said it allows tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days, after which congressional approval is needed to keep them in place; under that timetable, the current 10% tariff would expire on July 24, 2026, if Congress does nothing. (pbs.org) That new tariff is already in court too. On April 10, a three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade heard a challenge from 24 mostly Democratic-led states and two small businesses arguing that the administration is again stretching an old statute beyond what Congress allowed. (reuters.com, nytimes.com) The administration says Section 122 gives the president authority to respond to balance-of-payments problems and large trade deficits. Challengers say the law was written for a different economic problem and does not support a broad tariff with carveouts like the exemption for many United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement goods. (whitecase.com, supplychaindive.com) Customs and Border Protection told the trade court on March 31 that the first phase of its refund system covers unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within 90 days, which Ernst & Young said represented about 63% of affected entries. The ruling that started this refund process did not end the tariff fight; it shifted it from emergency powers to a faster-closing statutory window. (taxnews.ey.com, pbs.org)