Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs could hit a snag in court today. Here's what to know

A federal appeals court on Thursday will hear arguments over the legality of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plan a high-stakes court fight that comes just hours before Trump's import duties and so-called reciprocal tariffs are slated to take force At issue before the Washington-based Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is Trump s attempt to use the International Crisis Economic Powers Act IEEPA a urgency law to enact the steep import fees and impose additional tariffs on certain trading partners Thursday's hearing comes less than hours before Trump's tariffs are slated to take force Both sides have signaled they plan to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court if necessary On April Trump publicized a baseline tariff on all countries along with higher reciprocal tariffs targeting select nations including China He reported the measures would address transaction imbalances reduce deficits with key trading partners and boost domestic manufacturing and production TARIFF FIGHT ESCALATES AS TRUMP APPEALS SECOND COURT LOSSHowever whether exigency tariffs are the appropriate wagon to accomplish this is an open question and one central to Thursday's oral arguments before the appeals court Plaintiffs in V O S Selections Inc v Trump will argue on Thursday that the looming tariffs have already introduced confusion and volatility into markets threatening the bottom lines of small U S businesses and making it extremely intricate for owners to operate under shifting guidance that seems to change on a whim Small businesses in the U S have been hit with months of complete uncertainty Jeffrey Schwab senior counsel and director of litigation of the Liberty Justice Center one of the groups representing small businesses in court announced in an interview Wednesday That's largely due to the fact that the president asserts the power to impose tariffs on any country he wants for any reason and at any rate he wants at any time he wants Schwab commented So there's no certainty on what the rate is going to be from one week to the next and that's very intricate to do business with when things are constantly changing Judges on a three-judge panel for the U S Court of International Deal voted unanimously to block Trump's tariffs from taking force earlier this year ruling that as commander in chief Trump does not have unbounded authority to impose tariffs under the exigency law That ruling was later paused by the appeals court in Washington D C which agreed to consider the administration's request for relief Ahead of Thursday's oral arguments U S Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed they would continue to defend the president's commerce agenda in court This morning Justice Department attorneys are going to court to defend President Trump s tariffs which are transforming the global market protecting our national protection and addressing the consequences of our exploding agreement deficit she explained We will continue to defend the president TRUMP TARIFF PLAN FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AS COURT BATTLES INTENSIFYOthers argue that the tariffs are more a negotiating tool designed to bring trading partners to the table to negotiate new deals JUDGES V TRUMP HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDADespite exchange adviser Peter Navarro's pledge to strike contract agreements in days and Trump's assertion to Time magazine that they had struck over deals this year the Trump administration has in fact inked just eight such agreements over the last days The agreements informed by the U S include deals with the European Union's -member bloc the United Kingdom South Korea Japan and others The U S and China which threatened each other with escalating reciprocal tariffs that climbed as high as agreed at a meeting in Geneva in May to lower tariffs through at least mid-August Talks for a longer-term deal are ongoing Specific Trump supporters have argued the tariffs are merely a negotiating tactic to get foreign governments to the table though the administration has repeatedly vowed to use all tools at their disposal to advance They argued in a court filing that the IEEPA is the law that Congress passed in to allow the president to respond to atypical and extraordinary threats and in cases where a national urgency has already been declared However plaintiffs argue that Trump s use of IEEPA to address the transaction deficit is unlawful pointing out that by the administration s own admission the deficit has persisted for nearly years undermining the claim of an exceptional and extraordinary emergency The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will likely move on the development rapidly with a decision expected in August No matter the outcome both sides have vowed to take the fight to the Supreme Court if necessary In the interim economists noted there could be real harm the longer the court process takes Schwab the lawyer helping represent plaintiffs in court Thursday declared small business owners could see potentially irreparable harm as a outcome of court inaction Already he disclosed Wednesday his clients are reporting real harm Specific of the harm has already taken place Schwab commented in an earlier interview And the longer it goes on the worse it is