A coalition of 25 US states initiated legal action on Monday against the Trump administration, seeking to halt a new round of tariffs imposed on 60 trading partners. The states, which include New York, California, Arizona, and several others, are asking the US Court of International Trade to declare the 10% to 12.5% levies unlawful and to mandate refunds for any duties already collected.
The plaintiffs argue that these tariffs, which took effect last month, serve as a pretext to replace previous import taxes that were struck down by the Supreme Court in February. According to the coalition, the affected countries—which include the European Union and 59 other nations—account for 99.4% of total US imports. New York Attorney General Letitia James stated that the administration is attempting to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses after losing at the Supreme Court. She asserted that the Constitution does not grant the president the authority to impose sweeping tariffs on whichever countries he chooses.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul echoed these concerns, describing the tariffs as a tax on everyday essentials like groceries, household goods, and building materials. She and the attorney general contend that the administration’s justification—that these countries have failed to sufficiently combat forced labor—does not satisfy the requirements of Section 301. The states involved in the lawsuit include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
The legal challenge follows a separate lawsuit filed by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of two small businesses that argue the president exceeded his executive authority. In response, White House spokesman Kush Desai defended the policy, stating that the United States is utilizing lawful authority to address unreasonable acts that burden American commerce. Desai maintained that foreign countries failing to enforce prohibitions against forced labor negatively impact US workers and that Section 301 tariffs remain a legally durable tool.
