A group of 24 US states sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday in the first legal challenge to his newly imposed 10 per cent global tariffs, alleging that the president cannot sidestep a recent US Supreme Court ruling that invalidated most of his previous tariffs on imported goods by citing new legal authority, according to the states.
The Democratic-led states, including New York, California and Oregon, argued that the new tariffs, which Trump announced immediately after the high court ruling on February 20, are also illegal.
The tariffs were imposed for 150 days under the Trade Act of 1974, which is meant to address short-term monetary emergencies, not routine trade deficits that arise when a wealthy nation like the United States imports more than it exports, according to the lawsuit filed in the New York-based US Court of International Trade
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said during a press conference that Trump’s latest tariffs are an attempted “end run” around working with Congress, as the US Constitution requires.
“Make no mistake about it, President Trump’s signature economic policy is historically unpopular and is costing Americans, our business, and us as states hundreds of billions of dollars,” Rayfield said. “It cannot continue just because a few of Trump’s lawyers have found a way to twist words and craft a legal argument.”
Shipping containers are stacked at the Port of Los Angeles in California on Wednesday. Photo: EPA
White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement that the administration would vigorously defend the president’s action in court.