Trump administration seeks pause on ruling striking down global tariff

A pause would keep the 10% global tariff running, leaving importers, retailers and consumers with no immediate price relief as the Trump administration fights to preserve a duty that touches the cost of goods entering the United States. The White House asked a federal court on Monday to put on hold a ruling that struck down the tariff while it pursues an appeal, a move aimed at preventing any break in collections while judges review the case.

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled 2-1 on May 7 and May 8 that President Donald Trump had unlawfully used Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose the surcharge. The court limited relief to Washington state, Burlap & Barrel and Basic Fun!, rather than issuing a nationwide injunction, which means the tariff remained in place for nearly all other importers while the appeal advanced. If the stay is granted, businesses that have been hoping for duty relief would have to keep pricing around the tariff for the time being.

The stakes are immediate. Trump issued the Section 122 proclamation on February 20, the surcharge took effect on February 24, and it is scheduled to expire on July 24 unless Congress extends it. Section 122 allows temporary import surcharges of up to 15% for no more than 150 days when the president identifies large and serious U.S. balance-of-payments deficits. The court found the administration had not shown the statute covered the deficits cited in Proclamation 11012.

For importers, that means no clear pricing reset. For retailers, it means landed costs remain uncertain as the summer buying season unfolds. And for consumers, the practical effect is continued pressure rather than stabilization, because the tariff is still embedded in the price of imported goods unless the courts or Congress intervene. The temporary duties also carry broader market implications, since analysts have said they could collect tens of billions of dollars before they expire.

The dispute follows an earlier Supreme Court loss for Trump’s broader tariff program, after the court struck down a previous round of sweeping duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in April 2025. The U.S. Trade Representative is also pursuing separate Section 301 investigations that could become the basis for new tariffs before the Section 122 measure runs out, underscoring how quickly this fight could turn from one tariff policy to another. For businesses trying to plan inventories and margins, the choice is not between certainty and uncertainty. It is between one round of tariff whiplash and the next.