Analysis by Energy Workforce President Tim Tarpley
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling in a 7-4 decision, holding that the IEEPA (reciprocal) tariffs were not authorized by the IEEPA and constituted an overstep of Presidential authority. The court held that while IEEPA did authorize Presidential actions under a “unusual and extraordinary threat” in an emergency, it does not permit its use for tariffs in this instance, as a sufficient national emergency does not exist. The ruling is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court. In a win for the administration, the ruling does not take effect until October 14th, so the administration can appeal to the Supreme Court.
So what does this all mean for us? Well, from a practical sense, it hasn’t changed anything yet. Pending appeal, the reciprocal tariffs will remain in effect. It is also important to remember that this ruling does not pertain to section 232 tariffs whatsoever; those tariffs rely on an entirely separate legal authority from IEEPEA. Additionally, it is important to remember that even if the appeal to the Supreme Court upholds this ruling (which could take many months to get in the first place), the administration has indicated that it will seek to continue the tariff process using other legal authorities. On Tuesday of this week, Secretary Bessent said that there are many other authorities he would consider using, including Section 228 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, to sustain the tariffs. The President also released a strong statement on Truth Social, criticizing the ruling and reinstating his strong support for the tariff strategy. It is fair to assume that multiple different legal authorities would likely be attempted should legal challenges be successful in the higher court.
So, from a practical standpoint, it seems prudent to continue to move forward under the assumption that (in the near term at least) both the reciprocal tariffs and the Section 232 tariffs will remain in place. EWTC continues to push for a broad energy security exemption as well as the resumption of a product exclusion process to be reinstated regarding section 232 derivative products.
Tim Tarpley, Energy Workforce President, analyzes federal policy for the Energy Workforce & Technology Council. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Workforce newsletter, which highlights sector-specific issues, best practices, activities and more.
