A coalition of 12 US states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in the US Court of International Trade in New York, seeking to overturn President Donald Trump’s tariff policy, which they say is unlawful and has disrupted the national economy.
The legal challenge accuses Trump of abusing emergency powers under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to unilaterally impose tariffs without Congressional approval. The plaintiffs argue that only Congress has the authority to levy tariffs and that the president can only invoke IEEPA in response to “unusual and extraordinary threats” from abroad — not to enact sweeping changes to trade policy.
“By claiming the authority to impose immense and ever-changing tariffs on whatever goods entering the United States he chooses, for whatever reason he finds convenient to declare an emergency, the President has upended the constitutional order and brought chaos to the American economy,” the lawsuit states.
The 12 states listed as plaintiffs include Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Vermont. They are asking the court to declare Trump’s tariffs illegal and to bar federal agencies and officials from enforcing them.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes condemned the tariff approach in a statement. “President Trump’s insane tariff scheme is not only economically reckless — it is illegal,” she said. “No matter what the White House claims, tariffs are a tax that will be passed on to Arizona consumers.”
The Justice Department has not yet responded to the suit.
The multistate filing comes on the heels of a separate lawsuit filed last week by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who warned that his state — the largest importer in the US — could lose billions in revenue due to the tariffs. Newsom called the policy “the worst own-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 remains committed to addressing this national emergency that’s decimating America’s industries and leaving our workers behind with every tool at our disposal, from tariffs to negotiations.”
Trump, who has imposed aggressive tariffs on China — including an additional 145% on certain imports — and threatened more on other trade partners, insists the measures are key to revitalising US manufacturing. However, the states argue that the strategy lacks legal grounding and is harming the American economy.
