Half of the 50 US states have sued President Donald Trump and his administration over the global tariffs imposed in July, which include a 10 per cent duty on European Union exports.
The 25 states argue the measures are as unlawful as those the US Supreme Court struck down in February. Their complaint was filed on August 3 at the US Court of International Trade in Manhattan.
Brought by Oregon, Arizona and California and joined by 22 other Democrat-led states, the case asks the court to halt the duties, declare them illegal and order the refund of deposits already paid.
The tariffs, signed on July 23 and ranging from 10 to 12.5 per cent, cover 60 economies that between them account for 99.4 per cent of US imports.
They rest on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which permits action against foreign practices judged to burden American commerce. The administration cited its own months-long investigation into failures to block imports made with forced labour.
The states say they oppose forced labour but reject that reasoning, arguing the duties are drawn so widely that they contradict the trade representative’s stated aims.
New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote on X that “the president doesn’t have the power to impose sweeping tariffs”.
Brussels, by contrast, has treated the same measures as evidence that Washington is honouring the transatlantic trade deal.
The rate applied to European goods sits within the 15 per cent ceiling agreed at Turnberry, and European Commission trade spokesman Olof Gill said the outcome was “in line with the agreed tariff commitments”.
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas was less content, telling Reuters the American findings on the bloc’s labour standards were not well grounded and that the EU had kept its side of the bargain.
The litigation is the third round of a recurring fight. On February 20 the Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorise tariffs, leaving customs officials to process refund claims on roughly $166 billion (€144 billion) paid by more than 330,000 importers.
Trump then imposed temporary 10 per cent tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act. The trade court found those unlawful in May, though they remained in force during an appeal until they expired on July 24, just as the new duties took effect.
Two small firms, the spice importer Burlap and Barrel and the watch retailer Collective Horology, have filed a parallel proposed class action on behalf of all registered importers paying the new levies.
EU tariffs on American industrial goods were scrapped on July 1 under the Turnberry agreement.
