CIT Rules IEEPA Does Not Authorize the President to Impose Tariffs.

On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose Trafficking Tariffs or Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariffs. If you have a desire to read the full 49 page Opinion you can read Slip Op. 25-66. The court also issued a three page Judgement. The government acted quickly and filed their Notice of Appeal.

The Trafficking Tariffs, also referred to as IEEPA fentanyl tariffs, imposed 25% tariffs on products of Canada and Mexico and 20% tariffs on products of China and Hong Kong. The Worldwide and Retaliatory tariffs, also referred to as IEEPA reciprocal tariffs, imposed 10% tariffs on imports from most countries and the 125% tariffs on products of that were recently reduced to 10%. 

The Judgement gives U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 10 calendar days to effectuate the order. But the government filed a motion to stay the enforcement of the judgments in Slip Op. 25-66 pending the entry of a final and conclusive judgment after all appeals. If the CIT grants the stay that would likely pause the order while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) considers the government’s appeal. The pause could be anywhere from a few days to a few years, depending on how long the appeals process takes. If the CIT agrees to the stay then importers will be required to pay and CBP will continue to collect IEEPA tariffs during the appeals process.

One important question that was not addressed in the order is if CBP must issue refunds for the tariffs already paid. The CIT ruled that the IEEPA tariffs are illegal for all importers but it did not address refunds. I doubt that CBP will issue refunds or even provide information on a refund process until the court addresses this question directly, even if the government loses all of its appeals. 

The Order raises a bunch of questions. I’ve outlined some of the questions below and included some tentative answers and thoughts. None of my answers are official and none will be official until the courts finally decide on these cases. 

Q: What tariffs are not impacted by the order? 

A: Tariffs not impacted by today’s ruling include the 7.5% or 25% Section 301 tariffs on China origin products or the Section 232 tariffs on autos, auto parts, aluminum and steel products, regular or MFN tariffs, antidumping or countervailing duty and other duties, tariffs and import taxes not imposed under IEEPA. 

Q: When will CBP stop collecting the IEEPA tariffs?

A: The order says that CBP has 10 calendar days, this would be June 7. But I expect that the appeal will delay this beyond the 10 days. The government asked the CIT to stay the decision pending an appeal. The CIT often grants these stays requests but they are not required to grant stays. 

Q: I have a shipment on the water scheduled to arrive over the next few days, can I avoid paying the IEEPA tariffs? 

A: Probably not, my initial thought is that you need to continue to pay the IEEPA tariffs until CBP issues guidance on this question. 

Q: Will CBP issue refunds on tariffs paid over the past few months?

A: Probably not, unless and until the courts make their final decision and rule on refunds. Even if the government loses all the way up to the Supreme Court, importers will likely need to file PSCs, protests, court actions or some other administrative process to obtain refunds.  

Q: The elimination of de minimis (19 USC 1321) was included in the IEEPA order on products from China, does this order mean that de minimis is available again for China origin products. 

A: Maybe, first we need to wait for the appeals process to conclude. If the CAFC and the Supreme Court uphold the CIT’s decision it is possible that they will also find that the other clauses in the IEEPA based Executive Orders are also invalid, including the elimination of de minimis. 

Q: What does this mean for all of the trade deals being negotiated?

A: Another good question without an answer. Hopefully we will learn more about this over the next few weeks. 

Please send me any additional questions you have to tom@tomgouldcustoms.com. I will probably not have an answer right away but I would like to track the questions you are thinking about.