- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady on Trump’s tariff loss in court.
- The big story: Nvidia beats expectations.
- The markets: Pleased with the court ruling.
- Analyst notes on the tariff ruling from UBS, Convera, and Deutsche Bank.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. For months, many business leaders have quietly opposed President Trump’s tariffs—quietly because many were shocked and unnerved that one man could upend the global economy and hard-wrought trade deals with a flash of his pen from the Oval Office.
The president had justified his sweeping unilateral orders under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), citing trade as a national emergency. But on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously ruled that IEEPA did not confer such authority, invalidating Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and fentanyl-related tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.
In many ways, this is a triumph of the legislative branch of government, reasserting the role of Congress in levying tariffs and establishing limits on the executive branch. The court itself was established by an act of Congress in 1980 and traces its roots back to a tariff law passed in 1789.
What this ruling does to current trade negotiations and recent deals remains to be seen. But the U.S. futures markets reacted positively Wednesday night, further fueling investor hopes that a trade war can be averted. (On a separate note, Elon Musk announced Wednesday that he’s leaving Washington, ending another act of the executive branch that gave the unelected entrepreneur powers that critics had argued were unlawful.)
Now, of course, the tariffs drama will shift back to the judicial branch of government after the president’s lawyers indicated that they would appeal the court’s decision. Ultimately, the scope of presidential powers and clarity on what constitutes an emergency order under IEEPA may be decided by the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, a little-known institution operating out of lower Manhattan has reminded the rest of the world that the rule of law and division of powers matter.
More news below.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
Nvidia beats expectations
Nvidia beat Wall Street’s expectations once again when the chipmaker reported quarterly earnings on Wednesday despite pressure from tariff uncertainty. The company saw a 69% revenue increase from the same quarter last year with profits of $18.8 billion.
Macy’s reports earnings
Macy’s also outran Wall Street’s tariff-induced pessimism by reporting only a 2% loss in comparable sales for the quarter, below the 3.9% expected loss.
Paramount offers Trump $15m. He wants more
Paramount Global has recently offered $15 million to settle Trump's lawsuit against CBS News, according to people familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal reports. But Trump’s team wants over $25 million and an apology.
Instacart announces new CEO
Instacart announced on Wednesday that Chris Rogers, previously the managing director of Apple Canada, will succeed CEO Fidji Simo, effective August 15. Simo is leaving the company to become the first CEO of Applications at OpenAI.
Trump bans China chip software sales
The Trump administration has told U.S. firms that sell software used to design semiconductors—like Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens EDA—to stop selling their services to Chinese companies, the Financial Times reports. It's the latest move to make it harder for China to develop advanced chips.
Elon Musk bids adieu to DOGE
The world’s richest man thanked Trump and praised the legacy of DOGE, saying it would become “a way of life throughout the government,” though the announcement comes after Musk said that he was disappointed in Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ and that it “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”
Trump says no TACO
The president railed against a new market acronym—the "TACO trade"—that suggests "Trump Always Chickens Out". It refers to the predictability of the president’s tendency to announce tough policies only to backtrack on those pronouncements later. His reaction? "It's called negotiation."
U.S. to revoke China student visas
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration would work to “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese students—including those with Chinese Communist Party ties, or who are studying in “critical fields.” About 20% of student visas went to Chinese students last year.
Correction, May 29, 2025: A previous edition of this issue of CEO Daily inaccurately stated that Macy’s, as part of its Reimagine 125 strategy, is closing all of its stores besides the 125 most popular locations. The company is closing some locations but will have 350 stores once the Reimagine 125 campaign is over.
The markets
- The S&P 500 fell o.6% Wednesday. The index is up 0.1% YTD.
- S&P futures were trading up 1.5% this morning.
- The Stoxx Europe 600 was uo 0.3% in early trading.
- Asia was up: Japan was up 1.9%. Hong Kong rose 1.4%. Shanghai was up 0.7%, and India’s Nifty 50 was flat.
- Nvidia boomed pre-market after its better-than-expected earnings report Wednesday evening. Nvidia rose 5% before the opening bell, sparking a chips rally.
- Bitcoin was sitting up at $108,500 this morning.
From the analysts
- UBS on long-term tariff effects. "For now, the court ruling lifts a significant tax burden from US consumers and companies. However, the main outcome is uncertainty. The decision will be appealed; the Supreme Court may again prefer Trump to precedent. Trump may use other legislation to reimpose taxes. Existing trade negotiations (and the UK’s non-binding trade agreement) are questioned—why talk seriously if the US stance is unclear? Perhaps most important, why would companies invest or hire in the US when taxes on their supply chains and on their customers’ spending power remain unclear?" per Paul Donovan.
- Convera on tariff ruling and market moves. "While the equity rally lost some traction as the week progressed, the court ruling has seen a sharp rebound of almost 2% for the S&P 500. Furthermore, a strong earnings report from Nvidia supported. The company projected robust revenue forecasts of approximately $45 billion for the fiscal second quarter, reinforcing confidence in its growth trajectory. Despite lingering concerns about the U.S. economic outlook, this news offers some relief to investors, underscoring how strong demand for AI could serve as a catalyst for resilient economic data in the coming months," per Antonio Ruggiero.
- Deutsche Bank on the ruling's effects. "If the ruling did remain in place, preventing the use of tariffs under IEEPA, one option for the administration would be to expand the use of other tariff instruments, like the Section 232 on national security grounds, which have been used for autos, steel and aluminium tariffs. But this is clearly a setback for their tariff strategy, and it’s also going to complicate its current attempts to negotiate concessions from trading partners, given the possibility the tariffs might not come into force once the 90-day extension period is over," per Jim Reid.
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
E.l.f. acquires Hailey Bieber’s Rhode beauty brand in $1 billion deal by Sasha Rogelberg
Vladimir Putin says Russia needs to ‘strangle’ Western tech companies still operating in his country by Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
UnitedHealth Group faces lawsuit claiming it used ex-employees’ 401(k) funds to defray its own costs by Irina Ivanova
Elon Musk’s little brother and one other Tesla board director sell stock worth nearly $200 million by Christiaan Hetzner
Inside Bill Gates’ meeting with his foundation’s staff after his $200 billion bombshell: ‘How do we get people to care?’ by Alexa Mikhail
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Ian Mount.
