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Appeals Court Hears Legal Challenge to Trump Tariffs as Trade War Widens

The arguments underscored the financial stakes for U.S. importers as the Trump administration prepares to impose higher rates without the explicit approval of Congress.


SeaPort Manatee near Tampa, Fla. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will hear arguments in a tariff case on Thursday. Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

By Tony Romm
Reporting from Washington
July 31, 2025
Updated 3:12 p.m. ET

The Justice Department scrambled on Thursday to defend the legality of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs, just one day before he is set to expand his highly contested global trade war with new duties on America’s closest trading partners.

The arguments in a federal appeals court underscored the financial stakes for U.S. importers — and the legal risks for the White House — as the Trump administration prepares to impose higher rates and carry out new trade deals without the explicit approval of Congress.

The legal saga began this spring when a group of businesses and a coalition of states each sued the Trump administration on grounds that the president had vastly overstepped his authorities in the design of some of his steepest tariffs. A federal trade court agreed, determining in May that Mr. Trump did not have “unbounded” powers to impose duties as he saw fit.

The trade court ordered the White House to unwind those taxes on imports. But the Justice Department quickly appealed and soon secured a temporary halt to the mandate, allowing the president’s tariffs to remain in place. Lawyers for the Trump administration had argued that an abrupt end to the president’s policies would have sowed chaos and undermined its negotiations to broker more favorable trade agreements around the world.

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Tony Romm is a reporter covering economic policy and the Trump administration for The Times, based in Washington.