Several US States Sue Trump Administration over Tariffs and Trade Policies

A dozen US states are suing President Donald Trump over his "immense and ever-changing" global tariffs, claiming he illegally bypassed Congress by imposing duties under an emergency economic law.

The suit, filed Wednesday in the US Court of International Trade in Manhattan, claims that Congress did not give Trump the authority to impose the tariffs and that national trade policy "now hinges on the president's whims rather than the sound exercise of his lawful authority."

Trump "has upended the constitutional order and brought chaos to the American economy," according to the complaint filed by New York, Illinois, and Arizona.

A White House spokesman chastised Democratic officials who filed the complaint for "prioritizing a witch hunt against President Trump over protecting the safety and wellbeing of their constituents."

"The Trump administration remains committed to using its full legal authority to confront the distinct national emergencies our country is currently facing—both the scourge of illegal migration and fentanyl flows across our border and the exploding annual US goods trade deficit," White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.

The lawsuit follows a handful of others filed by California, small businesses, and members of Montana's Blackfeet Nation tribe, all of which make similar claims. It seeks a court order to halt the tariffs, including the global levies Trump suspended on April 9. The states claim that the tariffs amount to a massive tax on American consumers.

"The president does not have the authority to raise taxes at will, but that is exactly what President Trump has done with these tariffs," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "Donald Trump promised that he would lower prices and ease the cost of living, but these illegal tariffs will have the exact opposite effect on American families."

The complaint targets Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the president used to impose "the most damaging of his tariffs," according to the suit. 

The states argue that the law was enacted five decades ago to prevent presidents from abusing emergency powers and that it can only be used to respond to a "unusual and extraordinary threat." Trade deficits and other issues raised by Trump do not meet that standard, the states claim.

"The statutory requirement of a 'unusual and extraordinary threat' is not met by the president's declaration of emergency accompanying the Worldwide Tariff Order," the complaint stated. "As the Worldwide Tariff Order acknowledges, 'annual US goods trade deficits' are 'persistent'; thus, by definition, they are not 'unusual and extraordinary.'"

The lawsuit comes just a day after Trump toned down his tariff rhetoric against China, the world's second-largest economy. Global markets are still on edge, given how frequently Trump has shifted his position on the issue.

The other states involved in the lawsuit are Oregon, Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico, Vermont, Nevada, Delaware, Minnesota, and Maine.