A federal appeals court has temporarily reinstated President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, just one day after a separate federal court ruled them unconstitutional. The rapid legal whiplash is the latest chapter in a long-simmering dispute over the limits of presidential power — and it’s leaving small business owners like Manuel Cortes scrambling.For 19 years, Cortes has run Groovy DC Cards and Gifts in Washington, D.C., surviving economic downturns and the COVID-19 pandemic. But he says tariffs have been a different kind of unpredictability.“I spend most of the day writing orders, but I don’t know how much should I get? Are people going to buy because the economy’s changing? People may be not spending the way they were spending last year,” Cortes said.The issue, he says, is price instability and an uncertain economic future fueled by the tariffs.“On a weekly, daily basis, we get emails from vendors saying, ‘We’re revising prices.’ Maybe an order that I sent last week, they’re like half of my order’s not coming,” Cortes said.The tariffs in question stem from Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act — a law intended to give the president authority to respond to extraordinary foreign threats. However, in 2024, Trump invoked the IEEPA to declare a national emergency over what he called unfair global trade practices. He then imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from nearly every country in the world, saying they were necessary to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and protect national interests.A group of five small businesses and 12 U.S. states sued, arguing that Trump’s use of the emergency powers law for trade policy was an unconstitutional overreach. On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade agreed, ruling that the IEEPA does not give the president unlimited authority to impose tariffs in the absence of a legitimate national emergency.But on Thursday, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit paused that ruling — allowing the tariffs to remain in place while the legal fight continues.When we asked if the ruling provides relief, Cortes said, “No, not at this moment. No, because he might do something else that it might make things worse than what they are.”Cortes is not the only one. New orders for durable goods fell more than six percent last month, according to the Census Bureau. Still, the White House insists it’s standing by business owners. “Nobody understands the needs of business owners, and nobody has the backs of our small business community more than President Donald J. Trump,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.Both sides are facing deadlines: plaintiffs must respond by June 5, and the White House has until June 9.But Cortes has a message for the president: “Don’t change your mind so much. It’s really not doing any good to anybody.”Some analysts have coined the term “TACO,” short for “Trump Always Chickens Out,” to describe the president’s pattern of announcing high tariffs and then walking them back. Trump rejected the label, calling it a “nasty question” and part of tough negotiations.Separately, Trump met this week with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The president has criticized Powell for not reducing the Fed’s key interest rate, calling him, “Too Late Powell.” The president initiated the meeting, the Fed said, and also added that the two discussed the economy and not interest rates. This was their first meeting of Trump’s second term.Neither of this week’s rulings affects tariffs on aluminum, auto, or steel imports. But for business owners like Cortes, the broader impact is clear: the uncertainty isn’t going away.
A federal appeals court has temporarily reinstated President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, just one day after a separate federal court ruled them unconstitutional.
The rapid legal whiplash is the latest chapter in a long-simmering dispute over the limits of presidential power — and it’s leaving small business owners like Manuel Cortes scrambling.
For 19 years, Cortes has run Groovy DC Cards and Gifts in Washington, D.C., surviving economic downturns and the COVID-19 pandemic. But he says tariffs have been a different kind of unpredictability.
“I spend most of the day writing orders, but I don’t know how much should I get? Are people going to buy because the economy’s changing? People may be not spending the way they were spending last year,” Cortes said.
The issue, he says, is price instability and an uncertain economic future fueled by the tariffs.
“On a weekly, daily basis, we get emails from vendors saying, ‘We’re revising prices.’ Maybe an order that I sent last week, they’re like half of my order’s not coming,” Cortes said.
The tariffs in question stem from Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act — a law intended to give the president authority to respond to extraordinary foreign threats. However, in 2024, Trump invoked the IEEPA to declare a national emergency over what he called unfair global trade practices. He then imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from nearly every country in the world, saying they were necessary to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and protect national interests.
A group of five small businesses and 12 U.S. states sued, arguing that Trump’s use of the emergency powers law for trade policy was an unconstitutional overreach. On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade agreed, ruling that the IEEPA does not give the president unlimited authority to impose tariffs in the absence of a legitimate national emergency.
But on Thursday, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit paused that ruling — allowing the tariffs to remain in place while the legal fight continues.
When we asked if the ruling provides relief, Cortes said, “No, not at this moment. No, because he might do something else that it might make things worse than what they are.”
Cortes is not the only one. New orders for durable goods fell more than six percent last month, according to the Census Bureau. Still, the White House insists it’s standing by business owners.
“Nobody understands the needs of business owners, and nobody has the backs of our small business community more than President Donald J. Trump,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Both sides are facing deadlines: plaintiffs must respond by June 5, and the White House has until June 9.
But Cortes has a message for the president: “Don’t change your mind so much. It’s really not doing any good to anybody.”
Some analysts have coined the term “TACO,” short for “Trump Always Chickens Out,” to describe the president’s pattern of announcing high tariffs and then walking them back. Trump rejected the label, calling it a “nasty question” and part of tough negotiations.
Separately, Trump met this week with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The president has criticized Powell for not reducing the Fed’s key interest rate, calling him, “Too Late Powell.” The president initiated the meeting, the Fed said, and also added that the two discussed the economy and not interest rates. This was their first meeting of Trump’s second term.
Neither of this week’s rulings affects tariffs on aluminum, auto, or steel imports. But for business owners like Cortes, the broader impact is clear: the uncertainty isn’t going away.
