Trump's tariffs to remain in effect after appeals court grants stay

(Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated the most sweeping of President Donald Trump's tariffs, a day after a trade court had ruled Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and had ordered an immediate block on them.

An order from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington provided no opinion or reasoning but directed the plaintiffs in the case to respond by June 5 and the administration by June 9.

Wednesday's surprise ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade had threatened to kill or at least delay the imposition of Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, as well as import levies on goods from Canada, Mexico and China related to his accusation that the three countries were facilitating the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

Senior Trump administration officials had said they were undeterred by the trade court's ruling, saying they expected either to prevail on appeal or employ other presidential powers to ensure they go into effect.

The White House also said the ruling had not interfered with any negotiations with top trading partners that are scheduled in the days ahead. A fourth round of talks with Japan is set for Friday in Washington, and a trade negotiating team from India is headed to the U.S. next week for talks.

Financial markets, which have whipsawed wildly in response to every twist and turn in Trump's chaotic trade war, reacted with cautious optimism to the trade court ruling, though gains in stocks were largely limited by expectations that the court's ruling faced a potentially lengthy appeals process.

Indeed, analysts said broad uncertainty remained regarding the future of Trump's tariffs, which have cost companies more than $34 billion in lost sales and higher costs, according to a Reuters analysis.

Emblematic of that uncertainty, a separate federal court earlier on Thursday had also found Trump overstepped his authority in using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for what he called "reciprocal" tariffs of at least 10% on goods from most U.S. trading partners and for the separate 25% levies on goods from Canada, Mexico and China related to fentanyl.

That ruling was much narrower, however, and the relief order stopping the tariffs only applied to the toy company that brought the case.

(Reporting by Summer Zhen, Samuel Indyk and Sarah Marsh; Additional reporting by Luc Cohen; Doina Chiacu, Nicholas P. Brown and David Ljunggren; Writing by Joseph Ax and Barbara Lewis; Editing by Catherine Evans, Giles Elgood and Nick Zieminski)