Trade court to rule on tariff stay by next week

Two small businesses that won a ruling against President Donald Trump’s 10% tariff must continue paying it while courts decide whether to pause the decision during the appeal – a question that could be resolved as soon as next week.

The administrative stay imposed Tuesday by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit remains in effect, meaning Burlap & Barrel and Basic Fun must continue paying the tariffs while the courts determine the next procedural step.

The United States Court of International Trade set a May 19 deadline for plaintiffs to respond to the administration’s request to stay the court’s own ruling after the Federal Circuit deferred the issue to the lower court Wednesday.

The tariffs remain in effect for all other importers regardless of how the stay dispute is resolved because the underlying ruling applied only to the three plaintiffs in the case.

American businesses have paid about $8 billion in Section 122 tariffs since the proclamation took effect in February, according to...