The United States Court of International Trade issued a ruling Wednesday that appears to question the legal basis for some tariffs announced by the Trump administration, casting doubt on whether they were properly authorized under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.

The concluding remarks in the ruling issued Wednesday showed the court's panel of judges holding an opinion that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, "does not authorize any of the Worldwide, Retaliatory, or Trafficking Tariff Orders."

"The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs. The Trafficking Tariffs fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders," read the court's conclusion.

"It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency," Reuters cited a statement from the White House Spokesman, Kush Desai. Late Wednesday, the Trump administration filed a notice with the court stating that it planned to appeal the decision, the news report said early Thursday.

The White House did not immediately respond to an out-of-office-hours request for comment from MTNewswires.

The ruling is significant for Chinese firms, as many of the tariffs in question were imposed on imports from China and have weighed on investor sentiment toward Chinese companies operating in or exporting to the US.

Shares of Alibaba Group (BABA) rose 2.5%, with JD.com (JD) up 5.9%, Baidu (BIDU) climbing 3.6%, and Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) rising 1.3% pre-bell. Other Chinese companies' shares listed in the US that also rose before the market opened included XPeng (XPEV) and Yum China Holdings (YUMC).