Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Judges Check Trump’s Trade

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Trade court strikes down Trump’s April tariffs. (00:20) Elon Musk (TSLA) exits DOGE after criticizing Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax bill. (01:13) Nvidia’s (NVDA) Huang: China’s AI sector rapidly advancing without U.S. tech. (02:11)

This is an abridged transcript.

A federal trade court has struck down the “reciprocal” tariffs that President Trump imposed on what he called “Liberation Day.”

The ruling puts an immediate stop to the collection of a sweeping set of levies that the president imposed.

The three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump exceeded presidential authority on the April 2 tariffs placed on more than 180 countries and territories.

“The Constitution assigns Congress the exclusive powers to ‘lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises,’ and to ‘regulate Commerce with foreign Nations,’ ” the Court wrote in granting summary judgment to a set of plaintiffs on the case.

The Trump administration will appeal the ruling, but considering that the suing plaintiffs sought no narrow relief, tariff collection will stop immediately, barring an emergency stay.

Elon Musk is stepping down from his role as a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.

In a post on his social media platform X, Musk thanked Trump for the opportunity to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, commonly referred to as DOGE.

“The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” Musk wrote.

Since the start of Trump’s second term in January, Musk has headed the Department of Government Efficiency, where he was charged with significantly reducing the size of the federal government.

However, the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO’s exit comes after he criticized Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill – the legislative centerpiece of the president’s agenda.

In an interview to be aired June 1 on “CBS Sunday Morning,” Musk said the “big, beautiful bill” will not help the nation’s finances. In a clip he goes on to say that the bill “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said Wednesday that Chinese AI companies are stepping in to fill the gap left by the exit of U.S. firms from the market, and their technologies are rapidly gaining strength.

“The Chinese competitors have evolved,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Huawei Technologies Co., a Chinese tech company blacklisted by the US government, has become “quite formidable,” he said.

U.S. export restrictions to China have effectively shut Nvidia out of the world’s largest chip market, and the company now expects to forfeit around $8 billion in sales as a result in the second quarter.

However, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is up 5% in premarket action after the company reported fiscal first-quarter results and guidance that topped expectations, despite the impact of added export control curbs to China.

What’s Trending on Seeking Alpha:

U.S. pauses exports of airplane engine tech to China – report

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Tesla eyes June 12 as the launch date for its robotaxi service in Austin

Catalyst watch:

Ashland (ASH) will hold its Innovation Day for analysts and investors at the company’s Bridgewater, New Jersey facility. The event will showcase the enhanced capabilities and expanded applications of Ashland’s scalable technology platforms.

Now let’s take a look at the markets ahead of the opening bell. Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the green. Crude oil is up 1.2% at $62/barrel. Bitcoin is up 0.6% at $108,000. Gold is down 0.2% at $3,279.

The FTSE 100 is flat and the DAX is up 0.5%.

The biggest movers for the day premarket: HP (NYSE:HPQ) -8% – Shares plunged after the company reported mixed FQ2 results and issued disappointing guidance, sparking investor concern.

On today’s economic calendar:

8:30 am GDP
8:30 am Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin will participate in a fireside chat before the Housing Partnership Network.
10:00 am Pending Home Sales Index
10:40 am Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee will participate in a moderated question-and-answer session before the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber.
12:00 pm EIA Petroleum Status Report
4:00 pm San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly will participate in a fireside chat before the Oakland Rotary Club.