Category World News

A day after a trade court determined that the tariffs were above the authority of the president, a federal appeals court temporarily reinstated (PDF) US President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, the Federal Circuit’s Court of Appeals in Washington temporarily halted the lower court’s decision, but it provided no justification for it, giving the plaintiffs only until June 5 to respond.

The Trump administration filed an emergency motion with the Federal Circuit, arguing that a halt is “essential to the country’s national security.”

The decision was applauded by the White House.

Trade adviser Peter Navarro said, “You can assume that we will find another way even if we lose tariff cases.”

His accusations that the three countries were facilitating the flow of fentanyl into the US were being tarnished or delayed by the US Court of International Trade’s surprise ruling on Wednesday, which had threatened to halt or delay Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on most US trading partners as well as import levies on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China.

The International Court of Trade ruled that tariffs made under the IEEPA, which is typically used to address national emergencies rather than to deal with the country’s debt, were overreach.

According to experts, the IEEPA, which was passed in 1977, is only applicable to certain nations, US-designated “terrorist organizations” (terrorist organizations), or gang activity that is tied to specific circumstances. For instance, the US used the law to seize both the property of Colombian drug traffickers in 1995 and the property of Iran’s government during the hostage situation in 1979.

Bruce Fain, a former US associate deputy attorney general under Ronald Reagan, claimed that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn’t mention tariffs in any way.

In the event of a national emergency, Fein added that a statute, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, permits tariffs. He did point out that the commerce secretary must conduct an investigation and that product-by-product regulations cannot be applied.

‘Product-by-product’

Despite the appeal court’s reprieve, the administration’s economic strategy, which has so far resulted in lower consumer confidence and a US decline in its top credit rating, has been criticized for its decision on Wednesday.

In the end, according to experts, the tariffs won’t be effective.

Attorney Peter Harrell, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that importers should eventually be able to recover any [IEEPA] tariffs they have already paid. However, the government will likely try to hold off on refund requests until the appeals are over. ″

The Congress has the authority to determine the tariff levels. There is no mention of raising tariffs in the IEEPA. And it was actually passed to lessen the president’s authority. According to Greg Schaffer, professor of international law at Georgetown Law School, the president is rewriting the tariff schedule for the entire world.

The Trade Expansion Act, a law that was used to justify tariffs on steel, aluminum, and cars, did not appear before the US trade court.

Similar narrow tariffs can also be applied to other industries, such as Chinese pharmaceuticals. The US Department of Commerce announced in April that it would look into whether US reliance on China for active ingredients in important medications posed a threat to national security and warranted tariffs.

Former associate deputy attorney general Fein said, “This is not a question of whether the president can impose tariffs.” He may use the 1962 Act after conducting a study and demonstrating that it is not arbitrary and capricious and that it uses a product-by-product approach rather than a country-by-country one. ”

Washington, DC – For Anson, it was heartbreaking to learn that US President Donald Trump’s administration is currently pursuing Chinese student visas.

After US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the country would start “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or those studying in critical fields,” the Chinese graduate student, who is studying foreign service at Georgetown University, told Al Jazeera.

Anson requested that only his first name be used because “there is undoubtedly a degree of uncertainty and anxiety observed amongst us.”

Some observers found the two-sentence announcement, which also promised to “revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny” for incoming applicants from China and Hong Kong, to be intentionally vague.

Anson, 23, said he was unsure of the potential scope of the Trump administration’s new policy given that he understood that the US government had concerns about foreign influence and national security when it came to China.

The majority of students in his country, according to him, were like the other more than one million students studying in the US each year because of its “inclusivity and broad demographics” and “the other more than one million of its students.”

He continued, adding that he and other Chinese students in the US were still trying to understand the policy change, adding that it is heartbreaking for many of us to see immigrants constructing more xenophobia and hostility toward the rest of the world.

“An increased and growing suspicion”

The US Department of Justice launched the so-called “China Initiative” in 2018 with the stated goal of preventing “trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage,” which is not the first time the Trump administration has taken issue with Chinese students. In 2018, during Trump’s first term, the US Department of Justice launched the “China Initiative” with the stated goal of combating “trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage.

Instead, an analysis from MIT revealed that the program was primarily focused on Chinese academics and researchers, which was what critics described as “racial profiling and fear mongering.” The administration of former US President Joe Biden discontinued it in February 2022.

According to Kyle Chan, a Princeton University researcher on China, there has only been “greater and greater suspicion in the US, almost on a bipartisan basis, of various aspects of Chinese technology, actions by Beijing around the world, and now these concerns about surveillance and spying within the US.”

That included a congressional report led by Republicans in September 2024 that claimed hundreds of millions of US tax dollars were being used by Beijing to develop crucial technologies, including those relating to semiconductors, artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons, and nuclear capabilities, in response to a US-China partnership at universities.

However, Chan claimed that the Trump administration’s broad announcement did not appear to address “genuine security concerns” despite acknowledging that “genuine security concerns” exist.

Instead, he claimed, it has “shock waves of fear” erupted on university campuses nationwide.

Trump’s recent pressure campaigns on US universities, which most recently resulted in the revocation of Harvard University’s ability to accept international students, have made this uncertainty even more perplexing.

Because it is not about a specific policy, Chan told Al Jazeera, “I believe the vagueness is part of the Trump administration’s] strategy.” In the end, I don’t believe it’s really about finding the few people who might pose a real risk.

Instead, he thought Trump’s decision was intended to appeal to his political audience, which are “sitting between people who are very anxious about immigrants in general and people who are very anxious about China.”

“Terribrate disruption”

The administration has provided little clarity regarding the definition of “studying in critical fields” or the scope of the visa revocations.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Thursday, providing only the following information: “We will continue to use every tool in our tool chest to make sure that we know who wants to come into this country and if they should be allowed to come in.”

Further, she added, “The United States will not tolerate the CCP’s exploitation of US universities or the theft of US research, intellectual property, or technologies to expand its military might, conduct intelligence collection, or suppress voices of opposition,” she added.

According to Cole McFaul, a research analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, the policy’s eventual form will determine how “disruptive” it may be despite the lack of clarity.

He cited “real concerns about intellectual property [transferred] in Beijing and about illicit IP [intellectual property] transfers,” noting that there have been a few documented instances of this activity in recent years.

According to McFaul, “my hope is that this is a targeted action that is based on reliable analysis of risk and costs,” according to McFaul.

He said, “My worry is that this will result in large-scale, broad-based revocations of visas for Chinese students working in STEM subjects,” referring to the acronym for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

According to McFaul, about 80% of the estimated 277, 000 Chinese students studying in the US each year have STEM interests, which he described as “an enormously important talent pipeline from China to the United States for the past 40 years.”

The majority of Chinese PhDs in STEM fields, or about 80%, stay in the country after graduation, according to McFaul, which is another significant plus for the country.

What qualifies as a worker in a crucial technology, the question is, “? Life sciences: are they important? I would say “yes.” The physical sciences are they important? I’d say ‘ yes’. Computer science: Is it crucial? Is engineering a necessary skill? said McFaul.

Therefore, he said, “There would be a world where the vast majority of Chinese students would not be permitted to study in the United States, which would be a significant loss and significant disruption to the US science and technology ecosystem.”

“Creating unnecessary fear”

Chinese students in the US said they are monitoring the Trump administration’s frequently erratic winds because the policy is still unclear.

In the midst of uncertainty, Su, a 23-year-old graduate student majoring in applied analytics, reported that she had quickly changed her plans to return home to China this summer.

Su, who had a last name in mind, feared that if I go back to China, I won’t be able to return to the US when classes begin.

We never know whether something Trump makes will actually work or not, she told Al Jazeera. It’s “changing constantly,” he says.

Deng, a graduate student at Georgetown, expressed his complete support for reforms in order to address issues involving Chinese influence in US academia.

He claimed that “oligarchy corruption,” the spread of nationalist propaganda, and the intimidation of political dissidents were just a few examples.

He claimed the administration’s approach was misguided in an email to Al Jazeera, though.

As deadly bombardment and starvation rack the besieged enclave, health officials are scrambling to relocate dozens of people who are still there.

Since early on Thursday, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of at least 70 Palestinians.

The Israeli hospital’s closure was described as a “continuation of the violations and crimes” committed against the Palestinian medical sector by the Gaza Health Ministry.

According to health officials, Al-Awda was the last hospital in northern Gaza to operate. The hospital’s closure came as a result of Israeli-forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, with a large number of people in the north and east of Gaza City being affected by the latest order, which was issued late on Thursday.

The health ministry’s statement read, “The Ministry calls on all concerned sides to ensure protection for the health system in the Gaza Strip, as guaranteed by international and humanitarian laws.”

13 patients are still being treated at the hospital, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). On Friday, the UN agency will launch a mission to transfer the patients to a different facility.

The hospital’s medical equipment cannot be relocated because of impassable roads, according to WHO in a statement.

There is no longer a functioning hospital in North Gaza as a result of Al-Awda’s closure, breaking a vital lifeline there.

WHO pleaded “for the hospital’s protection and the safety of the staff and patients.”

More than 1,400 medical workers have been killed by Israel’s bombings and besieging hospitals in Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to local authorities.

We haven’t seen any food or flour in five days.

Israel’s continued suffocating blockade of the enclave has caused the humanitarian crisis at al-Awda Hospital to worsen as the day-to-day it gets worse.

On Thursday, a humanitarian aid effort supported by the United States and Israel was still roiling as a limited supply of food was distributed at specific locations run by a secretive organization known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Saher Abu Tahoon, a Palestinian resident in central Gaza, told Al Jazeera, “We have come a long distance, around 10 kilometers [6.2 miles] to take this box tainted with blood.”

Because there isn’t anywhere to eat, we need this box. In the past five days, we haven’t seen any food or flour. We traveled a very long way to get food for our kids. Because I’m too hungry and exhausted, I can’t even carry this box.

Early on Friday, Israeli gunfire and multiple explosions were reported close to a distribution center in central Gaza.

Palestinians who walked to the newly opened humanitarian facility at the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza were unable to leave because of Israeli military activity, according to Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, a reporter from Gaza City.

According to Mahmoud, “many of the people who showed up at the site are trapped right now and unable to leave the area because of the ongoing shooting and the presence of Israeli tanks and armored vehicles.”

They have been coordinating their evacuation from the area by sending appeals to the Red Cross. They are starting to take a lot of risks walking on their own.

Israel has been pushing for the UN to omit and halt its aid distribution, which is criticized as a further bolstering humanitarian aid in the area.

The issue is that, to be honest, the insecurity persists and doesn’t make it simple for us to deliver humanitarian goods, Dujarric said.

Israel has prohibited the world body from regaining the supplies for the past three days, he continued, adding that there are 600 aid trucks on the Gaza side of the Karem Abu Salem crossing (also known as Kerem Shalom).

The UNRWA head, Philippe Lazzarini, stated that “starvation is threatening the future of the children in the Palestinian enclave.”

In a post on X, Lazzarini stated that “what’s urgently needed is political will to enable the UN and partners to provide assistance at scale without retaliation or interruption.” “Permit us to carry out our duties.”

At least 70 Palestinians were killed in attacks across Gaza on Thursday, according to medical sources, despite the dire humanitarian conditions.

About 30 people were missing under the rubble of an Israeli bombing of a residential building in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.

The Civil Defense stated in a statement that it is impossible to retrieve the missing people from the rubble due to the lack of heavy equipment.

We therefore request immediate and necessary intervention from the international community and human rights organizations to safeguard Gaza Strip civilians and innocent people.

Ceasefire messaging

Meanwhile, Hamas is still studying the plan, despite the fact that Washington announced that Israel has accepted a temporary ceasefire proposal put forth by US envoy Steve Witkoff.

White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Israel “signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas.”

We hope a ceasefire in Gaza will be reached so that we can bring all of the hostages back home, and I can confirm that those discussions are continuing.

Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told the AFP news agency that the US proposal “continued to kill and famine” and “does not fulfill any of our people’s demands, especially halting the war.”

The movement’s leadership, he continued, is fully responsible for studying the proposal’s response.

Netanyahu may be betting on the plan being rejected by Hamas so that he can paint them as the “bad guys” and continue the war, according to Akiva Eldar, an Israeli political analyst, Al Jazeera&nbsp.

Netanyahu attributed the blame to them, he said, adding that it had already happened.

Before the Israeli military destroys their homes, residents of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank retrieve their belongings from their homes. Already, thousands of people have been forced to leave. This is in response to Israel’s largest expansion in decades, which authorizes 22 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Demanding an end to US support for Israel’s occupation of Gaza, protesters chanted in a silent vigil outside the commencement ceremony at Harvard University. The Trump administration targets pro-Palestinian activism with deportation threats, which is a growing source of political pressure.