Court of International Trade Permanently Enjoins IEEPA Tariffs

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May 29, 2025
By: Frederic D. Van Arnam, Jr.

On May 28, 2025, the U.S Court of International Trade (“CIT”) issued a decision that permanently enjoined all tariffs imposed by President Trump using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The CIT, established under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, has nationwide jurisdiction over civil actions arising out of the international trade laws of the United States. This decision extends to all importers of goods subject to the IEEPA duties. 

The now-enjoined IEEPA tariffs are the following:

1.     The 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, which were imposed to address the fentanyl and illegal immigration issues.

2.     The 20 percent tariff on goods from China, which was imposed to address the fentanyl issue.

3.     The “reciprocal” tariffs, currently at 10 percent but scheduled to graduate to higher country-specific rates for approximately 60 countries and the EU, which were imposed to address balance of trade issues.

The court, a three-judge panel with judges appointed by Reagan, Obama and Trump, found that President Trump’s use of the “reciprocal” duties went beyond the authority granted to him under the IEEPA to use tariffs as a means of regulating importations. Furthermore, the IEEPA duties assessed on Canada, Mexico and China goods based on the fentanyl problem and illegal immigration were found to be improper because they do not deal with those threats.

The court has given the government 10 days to implement a means to shut down the collection of the IEEPA duties. Neither the decision nor the order makes any mention of possible refunds for duties already paid.

Meanwhile, the government has already filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. We expect the next step will be the government seeking an immediate stay of execution of the CIT’s decision. If granted, then the IEEPA duties will continue to be collected during the pendency of the appeal, which will eventually make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This decision does not impact duties assessed and paid under the China section 301 tariffs, as section 301 is a different statutory delegation than the IEEPA. The court case contesting the section 301 duties is still on appeal before the Federal Circuit.  

If you have questions, please contact any Barnes/Richardson lawyer.