The White House is currently attempting to implement another round of tariffs through Section 301 of the Trade Act. While Trump says the tariffs are intended to combat issues of forced labor in the supply chain, the lawsuit claims that this is merely a pretext to ignore unfavorable court orders.
A coalition of attorneys general from at least 25 states have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to re-impose tariffs on dozens of countries.
In a press release, New York Attorney General Letitia James noted that the administration’s tariffs have faced repeated legal challenges. Earlier this year, for instance, the Supreme Court found that taxes imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were broadly unlawful; the Court of International Trade, meanwhile, ruled against a similar series of taxes levied under Section 122 of the Trade Act.
The White House is currently attempting to implement another round of tariffs through Section 301 of the Trade Act. While Trump says the tariffs are intended to combat issues of forced labor in the supply chain, the lawsuit claims that this is merely a pretext to ignore unfavorable court orders.
The attorneys general are now asking that the Court of International Trade declare these tariffs illegal, too.
“After losing at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs,” James said in a statement. “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. I will continue to stand up to this administration’s illegal policies that threaten to raise costs for New Yorkers.”
Section 301 of the Trade Act gives the United States Trade Representative, or USTR, authority to take certain actions to stop a trading partner’s “unreasonable or discriminatory” policies.
“President Trump recognizes that decades of moral suasion have not eradicated forced labor from global supply chains,” Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a July statement. “The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same.”
In March of this year, Trump announced investigations into more than 59 countries—as well as the European Union—over forced labor-related supply chain issues. James’s office notes that these tariffs were quickly enacted, despite precedent indicating that investigations typically take at least a year to complete.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, characterized the new taxes as yet another toll on already-cash-strapped Americans.
“We’re all paying the price for these unlawful tariffs,” Rayfield said in a press release. “Just as many families are back-to-school shopping, these tariffs are driving up costs for necessities like clothing and electronics.”
Sources
Oregon attorney general again sues the Trump administration over tariffs
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