Trump tariffs return until June 9 after appeals court stays injunction
A U.S. trade court ruled that President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs were illegal on Wednesday, but the administration has been granted a temporary stay until arguments are filed.
Tariffs could affect iPhone prices in the fall
The Trump administration implemented wide-ranging and incredibly high tariffs throughout its initial weeks of being in power. After a lot of back and forth, exemptions, threats of new tariffs, and a lot of uncertainty, the madness seemed to be ending thanks to a U.S. trade court ruling.
That respite was short-lived, however, as CNBC reports that an appeals court has stayed the permanent injunction until June 9. That's the deadline for both parties to file arguments about the case, and the courts will then decide if a longer stay is in order during appeal.
Both the "Liberation Day" tariffs and the previous trafficking tariffs levied against Mexico and Canada were deemed illegal by the court. It argues that the Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn't actually grant the President power to control trade -- a power defined in the Constitution as belonging to Congress.
The appeal and request for a stay kept the markets from reacting too quickly to the injunction Thursday morning. It is unclear exactly what the Trump administration may do in the interim.
Apple is caught in the middle of this mess, as it is a company heavily invested in the global supply chain. No matter how much it maneuvers, it will be hit in some way by the historically high tariffs.
It shared that it would take a $900 million hit to its bottom line in the June quarter alone if nothing changed. The iPhone 17 could also see global price raises to compensate for any tariffs that are in place.
Currently, there are still threats of two different additional tariffs from the Trump administration that could affect Apple. One is a tariff on all products imported with semiconductors, and another is a tariff on all smartphones manufactured outside of the United States.
Since those two tariffs are likely going to be levied as a result of a legal investigation, and not the EEPA, they could go into effect regardless of the trade court's rulings. It's going to be a complicated summer for Apple, but luckily WWDC should remain unaffected unless the administration finds a way to charge companies for software updates.
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You're gonna harvest wind
So I encourage any US residents reading this to be sure you are registered to vote. I also encourage voters who tend to prefer one party over another to bee willing to cross your usual party lines in order to stock Congress with representatives that have a plan to undo the tariffs in favour of other, better measures that might better address the concerns the president has raised.