A coalition of 12 American states, on Wednesday, filed a lawsuit to challenge the President Donald Trump administration’s tariffs, saying the president cannot institute the levies without the approval of Congress.
In a statement, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Trump’s insane tariff scheme is not only economically reckless, but also illegal.
The southwestern state is joined by Democratic-led Minnesota, New York, Oregon and others in the filing.
DAILY POST recalls that California filed a similar suit a week ago.
Trump has reportedly sent markets into tumult in his second term, turning decades of free trade policy on its head with his “Liberation Day” announcements of new tariffs against numerous countries.
The Republican has imposed an additional 145 percent import duties on China, and Beijing responded with its own 125 percent tariffs on US goods.
The president on Wednesday told reporters that he’s working on a fair deal with China, imposing 10 percent tariffs on other trade partners, and he is threatening more punishing levies.
The states, in the lawsuit filed Wednesday, argued that the 1977 law invoked by Trump does not allow him to use emergency measures to impose tariffs, a power constitutionally reserved for Congress.
“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 alleged.
