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Roughly two dozen Democratic-controlled states sued President Trump on Monday over his new global tariffs, calling them “equally unlawful” to the ones the Supreme Court has invalidated.
The lawsuit adds to legal challenges launched by small businesses to the new round in recent days.
The new tariffs, announced last month, add a surcharge of between 10 percent and 12.5 percent on imported goods from 60 trading partners.
It’s Trump’s latest attempt to unilaterally impose his tariff agenda by invoking existing laws.
He now points to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes tariffs in response to unfair trade practices that are found to restrict the nation’s commerce. The administration cites its months-long investigation into forced labor practices overseas.
“The Plaintiff States oppose forced labor in all its forms and support protections for workers around the globe. But the Administration cannot use forced labor as a pretext to continue its illegal tariff scheme,” the lawsuit states.
The Democratic-led states argue U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer isn’t following Section 301’s mandated procedures and other requirements, saying the tariffs must be set aside and the states provided refunds of any deposits they’ve paid.
“The tariffs the USTR imposed are so broad that they defy the USTR’s own stated aims and make a mockery of the statute used to justify them,” the states wrote.
The Hill has reached out to a spokesperson for the USTR for comment.
The lawsuit is co-led by Oregon, Arizona and California and includes 25 states in total.
Democratic-controlled states have challenged all three rounds of Trump’s global tariffs he has tried to impose since retaking the White House.
In the first, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump couldn’t invoke an emergency statute to impose his sweeping levies. He then imposed tariffs under a temporary authority, which a lower court ruled unlawful.
Those have expired, and the new lawsuit sets the stage for a third round of litigation.
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