A coalition of 25 U.S. states have launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration that challenges the legality of new tariffs imposed on America’s trading partners.
The lawsuit argues that U.S. President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on goods from 60 U.S. trading partners, including Canada.
The complaint has been filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade and challenges tariffs of 10% and 12.5% that have been applied on 99.4% of U.S. imports.
The states are asking the court to halt the tariffs, declare them unlawful, and order refunds of duties that state governments have paid.
At the center of the new legal case is the administration’s efforts to preserve Trump’s broad tariff regime after courts rejected two earlier versions imposed under different laws.
The states argue that forced-labor concerns cited by the Trump administration as a pretext for the new tariffs are nothing more than a smokescreen designed to maintain the import duties.
The White House has rejected the legal arguments put forward by the states and vowed to fight back in court.
The Trump administration imposed the tariffs after accusing several countries and the European Union of failing to prevent goods made with forced labor from entering their supply chains.
The states’ lawsuit alleges that U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer rushed investigations into 60 countries and failed to explain why uniform tariff rates have been applied to economies with different policies.
The complaint also alleges that the Trump administration did not establish benchmarks countries could meet to have the new tariffs lifted.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s previous tariffs and ruled that the U.S. president overstepped his authority with the import duties.
The lawsuit filed by the 25 states is the second legal challenge to the new tariffs.
A group of American small businesses have also sued the Trump administration, arguing that Trump cannot recreate tariffs that were invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court.
