A coalition of Democratic-led states sued President Donald Trump on Thursday in the U.S. Court of International Trade, arguing that his newly imposed across-the-board tariffs are illegal.
The suit is led by the Democratic attorneys general from Oregon, New York, California and Arizona along with attorneys general from 18 other states.
They accused Trump of trying to “sidestep” a February Supreme Court ruling that overturned many of his tariffs by using a different statute, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, as justification for new tariffs.
“The President is attempting to use an obscure law as a tool for his tariffs, and is yet again, going about it illegally,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
Section 122 gives the president the power to temporarily restrict imports to the United States to deal with “fundamental international payments problems.” Several prominent economists criticized Trump’s use of Section 122 when he introduced new tariffs in late February, suggesting that a trade deficit with another nation, Trump’s nominal reason for the tariffs, did not amount to a “payments problem.” During court case against Trump’s earlier tariffs, the Justice Department told an appeals court that Section 122 was not relevant.
White House spokesman Kush Desai said the Trump administration “will vigorously defend the president’s action in court,” and said Trump used “his authority granted by Congress to address fundamental international payments problems and to deal with our country’s large and serious balance-of-payments deficits.”
Trump turned to Section 122 after the Supreme Court struck down his original slate of widespread tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In a 6-3 ruling, the court determined there was nothing in the 1977 law to authorize Trump’s tariffs.
When first announced, the Section 122 tariffs, which have a 150-day limit, were set at 10 percent. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that they will increase to 15 percent “sometime this week.”
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