Appeals Court allows Trump to keep tariffs while appeal plays out

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Appeals Court allows Trump to keep tariffs while appeal plays out | The Excerpt
On Friday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY White House Reporter Zac Anderson has the latest on the trade whiplash around President Donald Trump's tariffs. A group of Deaf Americans is suing over a lack of sign language interpreters for White House events. USA TODAY Senior Congress & Campaigns Reporter Riley Beggin takes a look at some provisions lurking in the GOP tax bill Americans should know about. Heavy smoke is expected to hit the U.S. as Canadian wildfires force evacuations. Faizan Zaki pulls off a dramatic win at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Friday, May 30th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, the latest on tariffs after some court moves this week, plus a group of deaf Americans is suing Trump over a lack of sign language interpreters for White House events. We take a closer look at some lurking provisions in the GOP tax bill.
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Tariffs as imposed by President Donald Trump will continue for now. I spoke with USA TODAY White House reporter Zac Anderson about the latest chapter of trade whiplash. Hey there, Zac.
Zac Anderson:
Howdy.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, so starting with this, what did this appeals court decide?
Zac Anderson:
So the appeals court temporarily put on hold a ruling by a lower court that had blocked Trump from implementing his tariffs. Trump was trying to use a emergency powers law that was enacted in 1977 to implement these tariffs without going through Congress. He had declared a state of emergency, and this trade court had ruled that he couldn't use this law to push his tariffs, which have really been the centerpiece of his economic agenda. The Trump administration immediately appealed that ruling, and less than 24 hours later, the appeals court said, "We're going to allow you to continue to levy these tariffs while this appeal plays out." So really a lot of quick back and forth here, but the tariffs remain in place for now.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, this wasn't the only move in court. How else have the courts been intervening over Tariffs Act?
Zac Anderson:
Two court rulings went against Trump on tariffs this week. One was the ruling that I just mentioned from a trade court. That case had been brought by a number of state officials and also some businesses. Trump's use of the tariffs was deemed invalid in that case. And then there was another lawsuit filed by a pair of toy companies in Illinois that had challenged the tariffs that Trump imposed. A judge also ruled in their favor and invalidated those tariffs, but he paused the impact of that ruling to give the governments two weeks to appeal that decision. So two cases that went against Trump. Both of them have been basically paused while the appeals go forward.
Taylor Wilson:
So how has the Trump White House addressing what has Zac, as you put it, really been trade whiplash?
Zac Anderson:
The White House has really come out swinging on this. They've gone after these court rulings. This has been a continuation of their efforts to criticize the judiciary, which has blocked a lot of what Trump has done during the first four months of his administration. They called these activist judges and they vowed to appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court, and they said that they're going to continue with their policy here and find a way forward.
Taylor Wilson:
And Zac, I know Trump was asked a question about this TACO acronym earlier this week that some financial analysts are embracing. The acronym stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. What is this and how did Trump respond?
Zac Anderson:
It was coined by a Wall Street analyst and traders have talked about trading around Trump's tariffs, that basically when he implements the tariffs, the markets crash. But it's only for a short time period, and then they come back up, so that you can basically count on Trump chickening out and plan your trades around that. And that's really taken off in financial circles that Trump was asked about that at the White House the other day, and he really expressed a lot of indignation. Trump likes to be seen as strong and really project strength, and so being called a chicken really set him off, and he really said that he didn't like that question.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Well, all eyes have been on the markets both domestically and really around the world since these tariffs were first announced a few weeks ago. How are markets reacting now this week, Zac?
Zac Anderson:
So after the tariffs were paused, you saw a little bit of a spike in the markets. Obviously, the threat of tariffs has led to some concerns about how that would affect the economy. There's been talk that that could increase chances of recession. U.S. stocks really showed little reaction to the appeals court decision having already pulled back from the rally sparked on Wednesday and Wall Street closed higher on Thursday, shrugging off the decision by the Federal Appeals Court. So I think the markets are still kind of taking a wait-and-see approach.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, spoke with reporters after the appeals court ruling. Let's give a listen.
Peter Navarro:
Even if we lose, we will do it another way. And I can assure you American people, that the Trump tariff agenda is a alive, well, healthy and will be implemented to protect you, to save your jobs and your factories, and to stop ship and foreign wealth, our wealth into foreign hands.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, Zac, I want to ask you to predict the future, but what's next perhaps for this trade whiplash conversation going forward?
Zac Anderson:
Well, there's other court cases out there, so there could be other court rulings that impact this, but it does seem like this is going all the way up to the Supreme Court. Obviously, depending on what the appeals court decides, this is going to be a battle for a while now until the Supreme Court brings some certainty to this. I think we're going to see a lot of back and forth on this for some time to come.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, Zac Anderson covers the White House for USA TODAY. Thanks, Zac.
Zac Anderson:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
A group of deaf Americans who previously forced the White House to provide American sign language interpreters during press briefings is asking a federal judge to again, intervene after President Trump halted their use in January. In a lawsuit filed earlier this week, the National Association of the Deaf argued that the Trump White House's removal of ASL interpreters at press conferences and briefings violates federal law. The same group previously forced the White House to provide interpreters for COVID-19 briefings during Trump's first presidency and former President Joe Biden expanded their use when he took office. Trump in March declared English to be the official language of the United States and rescinded an executive order from 2000 that encouraged the executive branch to make services available to people of limited English proficiency, including ASL speakers.
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There are some provisions in the GOP tax legislation that may not have top billing, but they could have a big impact on American's everyday lives. I spoke with USA TODAY Senior Congress and campaigns reporter Riley Beggin to learn more. Hello, Riley.
Riley Beggin:
Hey, Taylor.
Taylor Wilson:
So let's talk through some of these lesser-known provisions that are lurking in this tax bill, starting with making it easier to ignore court rulings. What can you tell us about this legislation?
Riley Beggin:
So this is something tucked into the bill relatively last minute. It's a provision that would essentially restrict judge's ability to hold people accountable for violating court orders. Of course, the context for this is it's coming as some judges are considering contempt rulings against President Trump for bypassing court orders, restricting the Trump administration's actions. So this legislation would bar judges from enforcing contempt rulings if they didn't first order a bond, which is usually set at zero or not ordered in cases when people are claiming the government did something unconstitutional. So Democrats have argued that this is clearly an attempt to go around the courts while Republicans say it's an incentive to stop frivolous lawsuits.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, amid constant headlines with AI, we know AI isn't going anywhere. This bill would allocate a healthy chunk of money toward AI. What might that mean and how else do they hope to tackle this?
Riley Beggin:
So we're in a place right now with AI where there's no federal regulation for AI. And so in the place of the lack of federal regulation, dozens of states have created AI regulations and overstride structures. The provision in this bill would block those states from enforcing the regulations they've already created and it would prevent states from creating new ones. So this is a little controversial. Tech industry leaders, of course, support this approach. They are wary of regulation, say it can get in the way of innovation, but Democrats and some Republicans have said, this is not a good idea. We want to make sure that we are protecting people as AI is developed.
Taylor Wilson:
And this bill would also create new savings accounts for children, Riley, am I understanding that correctly?
Riley Beggin:
Yes. These are newly dubbed Trump accounts, and they are essentially savings accounts that will be created for children. If your baby was born between January of 2025 and January of 2029 and you opened a Trump account in their name, the U.S. Treasury Department would put a one-time payment of a thousand dollars in the account, which would then be invested in stock funds. Parents would be able to contribute up to $5,000 a year as well, so it would grow with the stock market. And then when the child turns 18, they can use a portion of it for things like education, apprenticeships and training or buying their first house. And then once the child reaches age 30, they could use the full amount for whatever they want.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. How about some lurking provisions here as it pertains to Pell grants and student loan changes?
Riley Beggin:
Pell grants are of course support for low-income students who want to go to colleges and universities. Right now, students who are on Pell grants are considered full-time and they qualify for the maximum amount of aid if they take 12 credits per semester. This bill would amp that up a little bit, change that full-time requirement to 15 credits a semester, which of course, if you continue to take 12 credits, it estimated a loss of around $1,500 in benefits for those students. And advocates who are concerned about this, say that that could create challenges for students who either are working or caretaking for siblings or parents. So it could certainly impact students here.
Taylor Wilson:
As for migrants, there are some provisions dealing with new immigration fees and charging foreign workers. What can you tell us about these moves?
Riley Beggin:
So one of the ways that this bill is seeking to offset the cost of tax cuts is by implementing new fees primarily on immigrants. So one thing that really popped out at us is a series of new fees for people who are trying to immigrate to the United States. So for example, $1000 to request asylum, $550 payments every six months for work authorization, $500 for temporary protected status, $1000 for undocumented immigrants who are paroled into the country, and $3,500 for people to sponsor unaccompanied children who are immigrating into the country.
And those are just a handful of them. There are many more. The other thing I'll mention is people who move to the United States to work and send money back to their home country could certainly see a chunk of their funds being taken out here. The bill would implement a new 3.5% tax on these transfers that are known as remittances, when people send money to a foreign country. That tax be paid by the person who's sending the money, there will be an exemption for people who are U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals that are sending money abroad.
Taylor Wilson:
Riley Beggin covers Congress and campaigns for USA TODAY. Thanks, Riley.
Riley Beggin:
Thank you.
eclaircissement
Taylor Wilson:
Thousands of people in Canada are being evacuated as active wildfires have charred hundreds of thousands of acres in the country, officials said. The blazes also threaten to waft heavy smoke over the Northern U.S. Some Americans could face poor air quality from the fires as soon as today. Active blazes have burned nearly 700,000 acres in Saskatchewan and nearly 200,000 acres in Manitoba, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. A total of nearly 1.5 million acres have burned across the two provinces so far this year, according to the fire center. Smoke from the blazes is expected to fall heavily over Midwestern states, in particular, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, and cut across the country to reach the Carolinas by the weekend. That's according to FireSmoke Canada, a team of forecasters at the University of British Columbia. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
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Faizan Zaki won the Scripps National Spelling Bee last night. The win comes after he lost last year in the spell off and became just the fifth runner-up to later win the bee. He sealed the deal by nailing the word, eclaircissement, running out of breath, and then collapsing to the floor as confetti fell on him and the crowd erupted. You can read more about the big win from our friends over at USA TODAY Sports.
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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and Kaely Monahan, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. As always, you can also email us at podcasts at usatoday.com. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.