Twelve states sued Donald Trump administration in Trade Court on ‘chaotic and illegal’ tariff policy

A coalition in 12 US states filed a case in the US Court of International Trade in New York on Wednesday, demanding President Donald Trump’s tariff policy to be reversed, which they say they say it is illegal and disrupted the national economy.
The legal challenge has accused Trump of misusing emergency powers under the 1977 International Emergency Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to unilaterally impose tariffs without the approval of the Congress. The plaintiff argues that only the Congress has the right to levy tariffs and the President can invite Ieepa only in response to “unusual and extraordinary threats” from abroad – not to implement extensive changes in trade policy.
“Claiming the rights that he chooses the goods that he chooses on the goods that he enters the United States, to implement the immense and sometimes changing tariffs, for whatever reason he finds convenient to announce an emergency, the President has extended the constitutional order and has brought anarchy in the American economy,” has been called in the case.
The 12 states listed as the plaintiff include Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Men, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Vermont. They are asking the court to declare Trump’s tariff illegal and stop federal agencies and officials from implementing them.
Arizona Attorney General Chris Meyes condemned the tariff approach in a statement. “President Trump’s Crazy Tariff Scheme is not only financially careless – it is illegal,” he said. “No matter whether the White House claims, the tariff is united that will be passed to Arizona consumers.”
The Department of Justice has not yet responded to the suit.
Multistate filing comes last week on the heels of a separate trial filed by California Gavner Gavin Newsom, who warned that his state – the largest importer in the US – may lose billions in revenue due to tariffs. Newsom called policy “the worst goal in the history of this country”.
Responding to Newsom’s challenge, White House spokesperson Kush Desai defended the administration’s stance: “The Trump administration is committed to addressing this national emergency that is reducing America’s industries and our workers are leaving even a conversation with the tariff, with every equipment in our disposal.”
Trump, who has imposed aggressive tariffs on China – some imports on imports – and other trade partners threatened more on imports, insisting that measures are important to revive American manufacturing. However, states argue that the strategy lacks legal grounding and is damaging the US economy.