25 Democratic-led US states sue Trump administration over new tariffs
Critics believe new tariffs were launched to replace invalidated duties rather than to address the issue of forced labour
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A COALITION of 25 Democratic-led US states on Monday (Aug 3) sued US President Donald Trump’s administration over its new tariffs of up to 12.5 per cent on goods from 60 trading partners, arguing that he had no legal authority to impose them.
The lawsuit filed in the US Court of International Trade in New York claimed that the administration “cannot use forced labour as a pretext to continue its illegal tariff scheme.”
The move came after the US in late July imposed new tariffs of either 10 per cent or 12.5 per cent on goods from its top 60 trading partners, including China, Japan and the European Union, accusing them of failing to halt imports of goods made with forced labour.
The new taxes came on the heels of the expiration of the 10 per cent global tariff that Trump introduced in February shortly after the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping country-specific “reciprocal” duties, as well as fentanyl-related levies against products from China, Canada and Mexico.
The states are asking the trade court to declare the new tariffs unlawful, stop them and order refunds of levies the plaintiffs have paid.
Critics and many targeted countries believe that the new tariffs were launched to replace the invalidated duties rather than to address the issue of forced labour.
“No matter how the administration tries to justify it, the law and our Constitution are clear that the president does not have the power to impose sweeping tariffs on whatever countries he wants,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
In addition to New York, the 25 states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina and Virginia.
The states’ legal challenge followed a lawsuit filed in the trade court by a group of small American businesses on Jul 24, the day the new tariffs took effect.
Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs imposed in 2025 on goods from nearly all of America’s trading partners were under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The highest court ruled that Trump’s use of IEEPA to levy them without congressional approval was unconstitutional, given that taxation is an enumerated power of the legislative branch.
For the new tariffs, his administration relied on Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, which allows the US to impose import taxes in response to a foreign country’s alleged unfair practices. REUTERS
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