A coalition of 12 U.S. states has filed a lawsuit against the administration of President Donald Trump in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, challenging what they call "illegal tariffs." The lawsuit was filed by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Vermont, who are seeking a court order to block the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

This latest legal action comes a week after California, the most populous state in the U.S., took the first similar step against the Trump administration.

The lawsuit alleges that this policy has left national trade policy subject to Trump's "whim, rather than the proper exercise of lawful authority," and asks the court to declare the tariffs illegal and to prevent government agencies and officials from enforcing them.

It notes that the U.S. president can only invoke the emergency law in the case of an "extraordinary and grave threat" from abroad.

"By seizing the power to impose massive and constantly changing tariffs on any goods entering the United States, regardless of any justification he might conjure for declaring a state of emergency, the President has disrupted the constitutional order and injected chaos into the American economy," the lawsuit states.

"Congress did not grant the President the authority to impose these tariffs, and therefore the administration violated the law by implementing them through executive orders, social media posts, and agency directives," said a statement from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"His tariffs are illegal, and if they are not stopped, they will lead to further inflation, unemployment, and economic damage," James said.

"President Trump's reckless tariffs have sharply increased costs for consumers and unleashed economic chaos across the country," said a statement from New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai, in response, said that the administration "remains committed to addressing this national emergency that is decimating American industry and leaving our workers behind, using all available tools, from tariffs to negotiations."

On April 2, Trump signed an executive order at the White House, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare a national emergency and impose so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on all U.S. trading partners.

This move sparked strong opposition from the international community and within the United States, and led to significant turmoil in financial markets.

CMG/gnews.cz