25 states sue Trump over tariffs after SCOTUS ruling
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- 25 Democratic-led states, including New York and Oregon, sued the Trump administration in the US Court of International Trade on Monday over its latest round of tariffs on 60 trading partners, alleging forced-labor enforcement was the stated rationale
- New York Attorney General Letitia James said the administration, after losing at the Supreme Court, is "once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses" with a new round of tariffs
- The Supreme Court struck down Trump's flagship "liberation day" levies in a February ruling, finding the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorize tariffs and forcing the administration to establish a refund process for importers
- Trump's temporary 10% worldwide tariffs expired at midnight on July 24, and the latest tariffs were instead imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which targets unfair or discriminatory foreign economic practices
- The latest tariffs affect more than 99% of US imports, and the states' complaint — echoing two earlier suits by small businesses — argues the forced-labor rationale is a pretext to re-impose levies already ruled illegal
- White House spokesman Kush Desai defended the tariffs as an "appropriate and legal response to unfair trade practices," citing burdens on US commerce and American workers from foreign failures to bar forced-labor imports
Why it matters: With tariffs covering more than 99% of US imports and the Supreme Court having already rejected Trump's IEEPA-based tariff authority, this lawsuit puts the administration's Section 301 workaround directly in the courts' path — meaning importers who expected refunds after the February ruling now face renewed levies while litigation drags on.
