The Daily Fuckup

President Donald Trump’s backup tariff plan ran into a court order last week, but not the kind that shuts the program down everywhere at once. On May 7, 2026, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the administration could not use Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose the temporary import surcharge at issue in the consolidated cases before it. The relief was limited, however, to the plaintiffs in the case, including Washington state, so the decision did not automatically erase the duties for every importer.

The legal fight did not end there. On May 12, 2026, a federal appeals court paused the trade court’s order while the government’s appeal continues. The practical result is that the tariff remains in place for most importers for now, even as the underlying authority is being challenged. Businesses may not have a final answer yet, but they do have a live duty schedule to work around.

The February action at the center of the dispute was a separate program from the administration’s January semiconductor measures. In February, the White House said Trump was imposing a temporary import duty under Section 122 because of what it called fundamental international payments problems. In January, by contrast, the administration used Section 232 in proclamations covering certain advanced computing chips, semiconductors, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, tying those actions to national-security findings rather than payment-balance concerns.

That distinction matters because the court’s ruling went to the specific legal authority behind the February surcharge, not to every tariff the administration has rolled out this year. The White House has framed both sets of measures as tools to protect the economy and national security, but they rest on different statutes and different justifications. The court order tested one of those theories and left the others untouched.

For importers, the effect is uncertainty without relief. A tariff that has been ordered unlawful in one courtroom can still remain collectible while the appeal plays out. That means companies still have to price, source, and contract around a duty that may survive, change shape, or disappear later. The law may be moving, but the invoices are moving now.