State attorney general tries to halt Trump's 'illegal tariffs,' says he has 'no authority to arbitrarily impose' them

Source: Law & Crime

May 8th, 2025, 3:53 pm


President Donald Trump’s tariffs have resulted in “chaos” for states and the American economy, giving them “no practical ability to recover the enormous expenses they will incur when buying vital goods and equipment” from importers, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield alleges in a new court filing.

The Democratic AG is leading a coalition of 12 states suing Trump over the controversial tariffs, arguing that he has “no authority to arbitrarily impose” such levies on Americans “as he has done here,” according to the group’s complaint. Rayfield filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on Wednesday to block Trump from implementing his “illegal tariffs” under four executive orders that he’s signed since retaking office.

“President Trump has claimed the unilateral power to impose, modify, and escalate new tariffs on any country at any rate for however long he likes,” the motion says. “He professes to have discovered that power in a decades-old law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), that no other President has used in that manner. The result for states, and the American economy more generally, has been chaos.”

According to the plaintiff states, which include New York, Oregon, Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois, Trump unlawfully imposed the tariffs under an emergency statute in the absence of any actual emergency — an argument reminiscent of challenges to Trump’s invocation of an 18th-century wartime power to conduct mass deportations with little or no due process, despite the fact that the U.S. is not at war.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/brought-chaos-to-the-american-economy-state-attorney-general-tries-to-halt-trumps-illegal-tariffs-says-he-has-no-authority-to-arbitrarily-impose-them/