DC District Court Stays Decision Finding IEEPA Doesn't Provide for Tariffs Pending Appeal
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on June 3 stayed its decision finding that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn't provide for tariffs, pending the government's appeal of the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Judge Rudolph Contreras said a stay is "appropriate to protect the President’s ability to identify and respond to threats to the U.S. economy and national security" (Learning Resources v. Trump, D.D.C. # 25-01248).
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The stay order covers the court's preliminary injunction against the collection of all IEEPA tariffs from the plaintiffs, two small importers, and the court's "accompanying memorandum opinion," which categorically said IEEPA doesn't provide for tariffs.
Contreras issued his decision last week, at that time staying his ruling for 14 days to give the government time to appeal (see 2505290037). The U.S. immediately appealed, asking both the D.C. district court and the D.C. Circuit for an emergency stay of the ruling (see 2506020028).
In both motions, the government argued that the D.C. court's ruling undermines the president's ability to negotiate trade deals and wield broader diplomatic power. The U.S. frequently referenced declarations from four Cabinet members -- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- that each say that the U.S. needs the tariff authority found in IEEPA to conclude ongoing trade talks and engage in other diplomatic efforts, such as the supposed recent efforts of the administration to broker a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
In his ruling, Contreras said the effects described by the U.S. and the Cabinet members will flow not from his decision but from the Court of International Trade's decision to issue a permanent injunction vacating all executive orders imposing tariffs under IEEPA (see 2505280068). The judge nodded to this reasoning in his stay order, noting that CIT's decision has been temporarily stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit while it hears the government's emergency stay bid (see 2505290039).