May 29 2025

Court Voids Trump Tariffs, Admin to Appeal

US to Revoke Chinese Student Visas Amid Security Concerns

Musk Exits Trump Administration After DOGE Role

Wave of Departures Hits FAA, Internal Memo Warns of Lost Expertise

Chinese Robots Dominate Audi's New EV Factory, Highlighting Industrial Policy Gains

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1. Court Voids Trump Tariffs, Admin to Appeal

A federal trade court ruled President Trump didn’t have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs on virtually every nation, voiding the levies that have sparked a global trade war and threatened to upend the world economy.² The decision on Wednesday from the Court of International Trade blocked one of the Trump administration’s most audacious assertions of executive power, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977.³ Shortly after the decision was handed down, lawyers for the Trump administration notified the court they will appeal. “The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder,” a three-judge panel wrote.⁴ Trump has used IEEPA to underpin most of his second-term tariffs—from duties on Canada, Mexico and China imposed over fentanyl smuggling to the far-reaching reciprocal tariffs levied in early April on virtually every U.S. trading partner.⁵ Trump later paused the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days to allow for negotiations.⁶ The Trump tariffs led to several challenges in the Court of International Trade and in federal courts around the country.⁷The trade court, which has nationwide jurisdiction over tariffs and trade disputes, was the first to rule on requests for injunctions after holding hearings in two cases. Appeals from the court are heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and ultimately the Supreme Court.⁸ If upheld, the ruling means the Trump administration must find another justification for its global tariffs. The administration has previously contemplated imposing duties under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows for tariffs that counter unfair foreign trade practices.⁹ That is the provision Trump used to underpin his first-term tariffs on China and is considered to be on firmer legal footing than IEEPA. The “Liberation Day” tariffs placed 10% levies on every nation. Trump imposed even higher rates on many countries he deemed “bad actors,” but later announced a 90-day pause on those duties. Trump ratcheted up tariffs on China to as high as 145% and then lowered them again to 30%. Justice Department attorneys said that the tariffs were necessary to address a U.S. trade deficit that had increased by 40% in the last five years. The deficit, they said, has had a cumulative effect on the country’s economy, threatening its supply chain, manufacturing and military preparedness.¹⁰ 

Editors note: Next, the Justice Department will appeal the trade-court ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; that court will review the case over the coming year and almost certainly be followed by a Supreme Court showdown in the 2026-27 Term.¹¹ That means the justices’ final word will likely land after the 2026 midterms but before the 2028 presidential race—guaranteeing that trade policy and the limits of presidential power dominate that campaign. While the case climbs the legal ladder, the current tariffs remain on ice, unless the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stays the trade court order while they review the case, or the White House revives them under a different statute. The bigger message is that this fight is about how much unilateral economic muscle a president may flex. If Congress wants the duties back in force sooner—or to head off another courtroom defeat—it can simply pass a new law authorizing specific tariffs, but until then the legal and political drama will keep unfolding on two stages: the Federal Circuit’s docket and, soon enough, the steps of the Supreme Court.

WSJ

2. US to Revoke Chinese Student Visas Amid Security Concerns

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said the Trump administration would “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students, in its latest effort to crack down on foreigners hoping to study in the US.¹² The move came a day after Rubio ordered US embassies across the world to stop scheduling interviews for new student visas, as the administration tightens the screening of applicants’ social media activities.¹³ Rubio said in a statement that the state department would work with the Department of Homeland Security to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist party or studying in critical fields”.¹⁴ He said the US would also revise criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from China and Hong Kong.¹⁵ For nearly a decade, the FBI and other security officials have raised increasing concerns about the potential for Chinese students — particularly those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields — to help Chinese intelligence services conduct espionage in the US.¹⁶

FT

3. Musk Exits Trump Administration After DOGE Role

Elon Musk, a key adviser to President Donald Trump who oversaw the U.S. DOGE Service, said Wednesday that he is leaving the administration after leading a contentious effort to reshape the federal bureaucracy and slash government spending.¹⁷ Musk wrote on his social media platform, X, that his “scheduled time” as a special government employee had come to an end.¹⁸ That designation, which exempts him from financial disclosure and conflict-of-interest rules that apply to full-time government workers, also means he is not permitted to work more than 130 days in a 365-day period. In the post, Musk thanked Trump for the “opportunity to reduce wasteful spending” and said DOGE’s “mission will only strengthen over time.”¹⁹

Washington Post

4. Wave of Departures Hits FAA, Internal Memo Warns of Lost Expertise

A wave of staff departures is under way at the Federal Aviation Administration. Resignations and retirements are building across the agency, potentially affecting divisions that oversee everything from air traffic to legal matters and space launches, according to FAA documents and people close to the discussions.²⁰ The departures could complicate regulatory and air-traffic control work handled by the FAA. The agency is under scrutiny after January’s deadly midair collision in the Washington, D.C., area and a series of technology failures that have disrupted air travel. “Employees are departing the agency in mass quantities across all skill levels,” according to a May 7 internal presentation to senior FAA management, outlining the effects of what is known as a deferred-resignation program.²¹ The presentation, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, flagged departures of senior leaders, technical experts and mission-support employees that it said would result in losing critical competencies and institutional knowledge. A similar presentation by the agency’s human-resources staff tallied more than 1,200 employees who were departing under the program. The FAA said departures, through the resignation program and retirements, account for about 3% of its total workforce and wouldn’t affect the agency’s safety-critical functions. Frontline safety personnel such as air-traffic controllers, engineers and inspectors who police airlines and manufacturers including Boeing aren’t eligible for the resignation program.

WSJ

5. Chinese Robots Dominate Audi's New EV Factory, Highlighting Industrial Policy Gains

For anyone seeking to gauge the success of Beijing’s flagship “Made in China 2025” industrial policy, German automaker Audi’s new electric vehicle plant in northern China provides a vivid example.²² Industrial robots from Chinese-owned companies — one of the key targets of the policy — dominate the production line, starting with an automated press that stamps metal sheets into door panels. Next, more than 800 robots from Chinese-owned Kuka weld pieces into car frames, while another Chinese supplier has automated the wheel installation process. The robots outnumber the humans on each shift. “We weren’t expecting to automate so many processes in China, but the Chinese suppliers’ pricing is very low,” says Tobias Liebeck, Audi’s head of manufacturing engineering at the Changchun plant. China now has more robots per 10,000 workers than Germany. Launched by Beijing a decade ago with the aim of dominating 10 advanced industries, the Made in China plan sought to achieve 70 per cent domestic market share across Chinese manufacturing in “core basic components and key basic materials” by this year.²³ In addition to robots, the other target sectors ranged from advanced rail equipment, high-tech maritime vessel manufacturing, and aerospace and aviation equipment to electric vehicles and next generation information technology. The policy marked a historic turning point not only for Chinese manufacturing but for the global economy. The Made in China plan helped create a massive rupture in Beijing’s trade relations with western partners and has shaped how modern governments think about industrial policy.

FT

May 29, 1953: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach Everest summit

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Sources

1. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trade-court-strikes-down-trumps-liberation-day-tariffs-9befa448?mod=hp_lead_pos2
2. https://www.ft.com/content/6628727d-69b6-4d45-938f-0c45578f4599
3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/28/elon-musk-leaves-trump-government-doge/
4. https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/faa-staff-shortages-challenge-c79805f2?mod=hp_lead_pos6
5. https://www.ft.com/content/724431ad-26db-4f6d-acab-ccb3cad11daa