You don't need me to tell you that both the threats and uncertainty brought on by the ongoing US tariffs drama have been wreaking havoc on businesses small and large. I mean, it's just logic. If you don't know what's going on and you can't predict what will happen next, it's impossible to make plans.
That's as true for a mom n' pop shop as it is for a multinational corporation. The biggest difference there is, the multinational corporation likely has more people on staff, who can be in more places and have more contacts to get them intel in a timely fashion. And maybe even grease the right palms, in some situations.
On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, the U.S. Court of International Trade (a real thing, I assure you) declared most of President Trump's international and reciprocal tariffs to be illegal. Not all of them, to be clear. But the ones imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which is what the majority of pain and headache have been about, have now been declared illegal by this very specialized federal court.
What does that mean? According to them, the IEEPA tariffs against China, Mexico, Canada, the baseline 10% amount levied against all other countries, as well as the so-called "reciprocal" tariffs against multiple other countries (which were currently paused prior to this ruling) are illegal. Tariffs on specific goods, such as steel and aluminum and cars, still remain on the table as they were not imposed by invoking the IEEPA.
Unsurprisingly, the administration immediately requested a pause on the enforcement of this order. The Trade Court's ruling included a grace period of 10 days before the affected tariffs must cease, unless such a stay is granted. During this time, the Trump Administration is pursuing a federal appeal of the U.S. Court of International Trade's decision.
Upon learning all of this news, the US NASDAQ and Dow stock markets both opened higher the next morning, taking the news as a positive sign. However, the revelation of data showing that the US economy shrunk by 0.2% in Q1 of 2025 (something that hasn't happened in several years), as well as a nearly 50% spike in imports as businesses scrambled to frontload stocks ahead of the expected tariffs, has reportedly tempered the stock market's early enthusiasm somewhat.
The skies are looking a little less stormy, but we're not out of the woods yet. And by "we," I mean everyone.
