A coalition of 25 U.S. states has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration over sweeping tariffs imposed on goods from 60 trading partners. According to the plaintiff states, the president exceeded his statutory authority and used trade legislation to reinstate a tariff regime that had previously been struck down by federal courts.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. Court of International Trade. It challenges new tariffs of ten or 12.5 percent that apply to the vast majority of goods imported from the affected economies, which the suit says together account for 99.4 percent of all U.S. imports.
The coalition is asking the court to suspend the tariffs, declare them unlawful, and order the refund of amounts already paid by importers. The states argue that the administration used Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and concerns about forced labor merely as a legal pretext to quickly reinstate nearly identical global tariffs.
According to the lawsuit, the new measures follow two earlier versions of Trump's tariff policy that were challenged in federal courts. The Supreme Court was set to reject one of the previous forms of the sweeping tariff regime back in February of this year.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the tariffs a tax that falls primarily on ordinary households. In her view, they drive up the cost of food, basic consumer goods, building materials, and other everyday necessities.
Oregon also joined the lawsuit. Its Attorney General Dan Rayfield said this is already his state's third legal dispute against Trump's tariffs. He argued the measures raise costs for families and small businesses and damage the local economy.
New York Attorney General Letitia James expressed a similar view. She said that after its defeat at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again attempting to unlawfully increase the financial burden on households and businesses through a new legal construction.
The White House rejected the states' arguments. It contends that the Section 301 tariffs represent a legally sound tool that proved effective during Trump's first term and remains valid today.
Besides New York, states joining the lawsuit include California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
This is at least the second major lawsuit against the new tariffs. A similar motion has already been filed by a group of smaller American businesses, who argue that the president cannot use a different law to circumvent a previous Supreme Court ruling.
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