After trade court blocks most of Trump's tariffs, appeals court reinstates them - National & International News - THU 29May2025 -

After trade court blocks most of Trump’s tariffs, Appeals Court reinstates them.

Hamas reviews US-Israeli ceasefire counter proposal days after Israel rejected deal.

After trade court blocks most of Trump’s tariffs, Appeals Court reinstates them

The US Court of International Trade, a panel of three federal judges, has ruled that Trump’s program of tariffs exceeds his authority under the legal justification cited by his administration. The administration has cited the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (1977) to impose much of Trump’s tariff program, including the imposition of 10% across-the-board tariffs.

The USCIT ruled that the IEEPA did not “delegate an unbounded tariff authority to the President” and that Trump’s tariff program lacked “any identifiable limits”. The IEEPA is also designed to delegate powers to impose trade restrictions in response to “unusual and extraordinary threats. The panel ruled that the administration’s justification for levying the tariffs did not meet this threshold.

The panel’s ruling came in response to two lawsuits, one brought by several states, and another brought by small businesses. In both cases, the plaintiffs argued that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing his sweeping tariff program.

Trump appealed the USCIT decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The appeals court has temporarily reinstated the tariffs while it weighs the case. The administration appears confident that the USCIT’s ruling will be overturned.

The stock market initially rallied following news of the USCIT ruling and then wavered after the appeals court reinstated the tariffs. The tariff program has created a great deal of uncertainty both in the markets and in the US retail and business environment.

Hamas reviews US-Israeli ceasefire counter proposal days after Israel rejected deal

Earlier this week, Israel rejected the terms of a ceasefire proposal negotiated by the US and Hamas. Now Israel says that it has agreed to a new proposal from Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

The deal would begin with a 60-day truce. In the first week, Hamas would release 10 of its living Israeli captives, as well as the bodies of 18 deceased captives. During this time, Israeli troops would be “redeployed” in various parts of the Gaza Strip. Humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter based on agreements.

During the 60-day truce, negotiations would be undertaken that would ultimately lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities.

You can read the full terms of the deal provided to Hamas by clicking here.

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Hamas leadership says it is reviewing the new proposal and examining the changes made. They have already flagged several concerning changes that were made from the agreement they had endorsed earlier this week. For example, they describe the wording regarding a permanent ceasefire and drawdowns of Israeli troops in the Strip as being much more “vague” than in the previous agreement.

A senior Hamas official told Jeremy Scahill of DropSite News that the new deal is “extremely difficult to accept”. The official said that the new proposal departed significantly from the one Hamas had agreed to earlier in the week. “There is no talk about the [ceasefire] deal from January 19. There is no talk about a return to the situation before March 2,” when Israel unilaterally broke the January 19 agreement. At that point, Israel resumed bombings and imposed a total blockade of Gaza, purposefully starving its 2 million civilians for nearly 3 months.

The Hamas official also said that the new proposal contained no guarantees that Israel will respect the initial 60-day truce once its captives are returned in the first week and no enforcement mechanism. Nor are there any credible guarantees that the agreement will lead to a permanent ceasefire or a permanent withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.

Without such guarantees and enforcement mechanisms, the deal as written would essentially allow Israel to resume its military onslaught in the Gaza Strip after 60 days, if not sooner.