In the lawsuit, Kaul and his fellow attorneys general argue that the “president has no authority to impose tariffs” under the statute President Donald Trump cited in the Trade Act of 1974. This statute authorizes tariffs, but only under limited circumstances, stipulating that it “cannot be invoked merely to address trade deficits on their own.”
More than 20 states have joined a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s revised tariff.
Earlier this week, Wisconsin became the latest state to join the case.
In a joint statement, Gov. Tony Evers and state Attorney General Josh Kaul announced that the state is now seeking to challenge Trump’s blanket 10% tariff on imported goods. The administration implemented the tariffs less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court found that the president lacked the legal authority to enact certain tariffs without first obtaining the consent of Congress.
“Rather than accepting that and moving on from the tariffs, the president promptly imposed new tariffs, citing a new authority that he purports gives him the basis to put these tariffs in place,” Kaul said on Thursday.
Tariffs, notes Wisconsin Public Radio, are typically paid by businesses that import goods or materials. In most cases, companies pass on the cost to consumers in the form of higher prices.
In the lawsuit, Kaul and his fellow attorneys general argue that the “president has no authority to impose tariffs” under the statute President Donald Trump cited in the Trade Act of 1974. This statute authorizes tariffs, but only under limited circumstances, stipulating that it “cannot be invoked merely to address trade deficits on their own.”
“We are arguing in this suit that the President doesn’t have the authority he claims to have, and that these tariffs that he’s recently imposed are being unlawfully imposed on the American people just as the prior set of tariffs were,” Kaul said in a press conference.
Gov. Evers, a Democrat, said that Trump’s insistence on starting “trade wars” is having a profoundly negative impact on Wisconsin and other states.
“The Trump Administration continues to blatantly ignore our constitutional checks and balances, and Republicans in Congress not only aren’t doing anything to stop him — they’re helping him,” Evers stated. “Congress cannot continue to let this continued overreach of power go unchecked.”
The White House, which said it was disappointed in the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling, has said that it will continue to use high taxes as a means to address alleged trade deficits.
“Tariffs will continue to be a critical tool in President Trump’s toolbox for protecting American businesses and workers, reshoring domestic production, lowering costs, and raising wages,” the Trump administration said in a February 20 statement. “The Supreme Court’s disappointing decision … will not deter the President’s effort to reshape the long-distorted global trading system that has undermined the economic and national security of our country.”
Sources
Evers, Kaul speak out as Wisconsin joins 24-state suit against Trump’s new global tariffs
Wisconsin joins multi-state lawsuit challenging Trump’s most recent round of tariffs
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