Washington: The Trump administration has requested a trade court to suspend its ruling that deemed President Donald Trump’s recent 10% global tariffs unlawful while the government moves forward with an appeal. This request aims to allow the United States to continue collecting these tariffs from importers amidst the ongoing legal proceedings.

According to Anadolu Agency, a recent 2-1 decision by a panel of the US Court of International Trade found Trump’s application of Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose these tariffs to be invalid. Although the court’s order immediately halted enforcement only for the two companies that initiated the case and Washington state, the Justice Department cautioned that if the ruling is upheld, thousands of importers could potentially bring similar claims.

Government lawyers argued that upholding the decision would significantly disrupt Trump’s trade strategy and divert resources from efforts to refund a previous round of global tariffs, which the US Supreme Court overturned earlier this year. The administration has already appealed the ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The Justice Department further stated that should both the trade court and the appeals court decline to pause the ruling, the administration is ready to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court. The controversy revolves around Trump’s use of Section 122, which permits temporary import restrictions under certain balance-of-payments conditions.

The trade court dismissed the administration’s argument that ‘balance-of-payments deficits’ should be broadly interpreted, determining that Trump’s proclamation relied on trade and current account deficits rather than identifying the specific deficits required under the 1974 law. The 10% tariffs, which were implemented in February, are scheduled to expire in July.

Since the proclamation’s enforcement, more than 170,000 importers have paid deposits covering Section 122 tariffs on 13 million entries of goods. In March alone, US customs authorities collected approximately $8 billion in Section 122 tariffs, as reported by We Pay the Tariffs, a coalition of small businesses.