New York, August 4: A coalition of 25 states in the United States has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. According to court documents, President Donald Trump has misused his legal authority by imposing significant new tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners.
The complaint has been filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade, challenging the recently imposed tariffs. Most goods imported from the affected countries are subject to an additional charge of 10% or 12.5%. The states argue that these countries account for 99.4% of total U.S. imports.
According to a report by the Xinhua news agency, the coalition is asking the court to halt the tariffs, declare them illegal, and order refunds for duties already paid.
This legal challenge focuses on the administration’s efforts to maintain Trump’s extensive tariff regime, which has already been rejected by federal courts under various statutory frameworks. The states contend that federal officials have used Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and concerns over forced labor merely as a pretext to rapidly reinstate similar global duties that the Supreme Court had already invalidated in February.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated, “President Trump’s illegal tariffs are nothing more than a tax on hardworking families. They are driving up prices on groceries, essential household items, building materials, and countless everyday goods that New Yorkers rely on.”
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the economic impact on local communities. Rayfield wrote on X, “Today, we are filing our third case against Trump’s illegal tariffs. Trump is once again raising prices on everyday goods for Oregon families and small businesses, and once again, we are leading a multi-state coalition to stop him.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James remarked, “After losing in the Supreme Court, the government is once again attempting to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs.”
The White House dismissed the coalition’s arguments, asserting that Section 301 tariffs have proven to be a legally sustainable tool since the President’s first term and remain intact under the current administration.
The lawsuit announced on Monday includes states such as Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
This lawsuit represents at least the second major legal challenge to the new duties, following a previous lawsuit from a group of small businesses that argued the government cannot use new legal authority to avoid the Supreme Court’s earlier invalidation of Trump’s extensive tariff agenda.
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