Tariff Legal Battle Plays Out

Reverse, reverse: Yesterday, I reported that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade had issued a ruling that would put a pause on President Donald Trump’s tariffs announced on “Liberation Day,” as well as those levied on Canada, Mexico, and China the month prior.

“The decision would have forced the Trump administration to unwind many of the president’s steep tariffs over the next 10 days, but the government quickly petitioned a federal appeals court to intervene,” reports The New York Times. The administration “asked a panel of judges to hold that order at bay while it weighed the administration’s fuller arguments that its tariffs were lawful.” This bid was successful, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a pause yesterday, allowing the tariffs to remain in place. This essentially gives the courts more time to consider the legal issues at play and to determine what type of authority the administration has, in a case that will probably be ruled on by the Supreme Court.

The case hinges on whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that Trump has invoked, allows him to levy tariffs. The IEEPA gives the executive sweeping authority “to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy or economy” of the country. Trump has, of course, made bold “national security” arguments in an attempt to politically make the case for tariffs: First, the flow of fentanyl through our country’s borders justified the imposition of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and—most especially—China. Then, national security arguments were used to justify further ratcheting-up of tariffs on China, with the administration arguing that the risk of relations with China souring at some point in the future means we must take steps to reshore critical industries right now. And, more broadly, the current trade deficit we run with many other countries has been portrayed as a threat to American competitiveness—whether true or false.

This is the first time IEEPA has been used by a president to impose tariffs, though. In the past “presidents have imposed tariffs in response to national security threats using Section 232 of a 1962 trade law,” reports The New York Times. “That legal provision differs from IEEPA in part because it requires an investigation and report that has to be issued within 270 days. The provision also focuses on certain imports that ‘threaten to impair’ U.S. national security.” In other words, there are slightly more strings attached when done via that mechanism, and the tariffs are generally expected to be more targeted and narrow in scope.

You might expect the administration to be in a sort of waiting posture, given that Trump’s use of the IEEPA might at a future date be struck down by the Supreme Court. Instead, Trump has decided to attack the judges who initially ruled against his use of the act, asking “Where do these initial three Judges come from?…Is it purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP?’”

Well, for Judge Timothy Reif—a Trump appointee—probably not. Trump, never one to take responsibility for his choices or appreciate the independence of the judiciary, appears to recognize his culpability in appointing Reif (who committed the heresy of ruling against him!) and has now taken to attacking the Federalist Society, which helped recommend conservative judges during his first term.

Trump just called Leonard Leo—the Federalist Society kingmaker and architect of the conservative legal movement—a “scumbag” who probably hates America.

The conservative movement sold its soul to a man who’s now tearing it down. pic.twitter.com/wU9vQS05GY

— Alex Tabarrok (@ATabarrok) May 30, 2025

More deportations in defiance of court orders: Earlier this month, a panel of federal judges with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals granted Salvadoran man Jordin Melgar-Salmeron permission to remain in the United States while his immigration case made its way through the court system. Twenty-eight minutes after that ruling was issued, Melgar-Salmeron was on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flight from Louisiana, where he was being detained, to El Salvador’s Izalco prison. “ICE officials argue in court filings that a communication breakdown left them unaware of the court’s order until after his flight had departed,” reports Investigative Post. His lawyer “said he plans to seek criminal contempt of court charges against the Trump administration. Such a request is due in court June 2.”

I’m sorry, I love him: “After denouncing it as a propaganda tool for the left, Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei is relaunching a state-run TV channel for kids set to feature a cartoon teaching free market economics while stressing the evils of taxes and communism,” reports Bloomberg. The channel is Paka Paka, which was originally created by former President Cristina Kirchner in 2010, and it will soon start showing Dragon Ball Z, Tuttle Twins, and Zamba, a cartoon about history. “Thrilled to announce that Tuttle Twins will be coming to millions of Argentine kids on Paka Paka!” write the show’s creators on X. “They’re replacing literal Marxist cartoons with hilarious education about freedom, economics and individual rights.”

“On the series, Ethan and Emily Tuttle travel through time and space with their libertarian grandma to learn about the glories of capitalism,” adds Bloomberg. “In one episode, the siblings discover the evils of government overreach in a ravaged, garbage-strewn Cuba run by Fidel Castro. In another, they realize money loses its value when governments print too much.” Here’s a sampling:

Inflación con Milton Friedman pic.twitter.com/L1NAC7b69b

— Tuttle Twins TV (@TuttleTwinsTv) May 23, 2025

Obviously, the best possible approach would be no state-run TV at all. But Milei is probably correct that decades of Peronism have led to plenty of citizens having an insufficient appreciation for free markets. If these cartoons can help restore a little bit of balance, then that may be a good thing.

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Scenes from Texas: My hopes that THC products will become legal here have been somewhat dashed, with Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick going on quite the tirade against them earlier this week.

Lt Gov @DanPatrick clearly thought it was “stupid” of me to ask him why he can’t allow grown adults to buy THC products in Texas. pic.twitter.com/HpwEAaVu24

— Jeremy Wallace (@JeremySWallace) May 28, 2025

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QUICK HITS

• “Roughly a half-dozen GOP lawmakers from Pennsylvania and other states with U.S. Steel operations launched a series of meetings and group text chains shortly after Trump’s November election victory, developing a plan to pitch his top economic officials on the merits of the [Nippon Steel] sale,” reports Politico. “Eventually, and somewhat unexpectedly, they got an audience with the president himself. The message the group delivered: If the incoming president did not reverse his predecessor, Joe Biden’s, decision to block Nippon Steel’s purchase of the country’s second-largest steel producer, it would lead to major manufacturing job losses in Pennsylvania and other states in the steel production supply chain.”
• “China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social this morning, portending escalations in the trade war. It’s not clear which violations Trump is referring to.
• Lol:

I like the synthesis of content and form here, where the longest shot in the whole ad is about three seconds, and that’s also the attention span at which “freeze the rent” sounds like a good policy. https://t.co/tVrxZlcYSi

— Byrne Hobart (@ByrneHobart) May 29, 2025

• Just wildly unhinged takes from someone who used to be employed by The New York Times and The Washington Post (and we wonder why trust in media is low!):

“You don’t have enough respect for the sanctity of 9/11″ is such a ridiculously out of touch and frankly boomer ass take in 2025. 9/11 has been a punchline for over a decade, ppl are having 9/11 themed parties and there are 9/11 parody t shirts and memes all over. https://t.co/HmqZt19UZu

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) May 29, 2025

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