US states mount court challenge to Trump's tariffs

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US states mount court challenge to Trump's tariffs
By Dietrich Knauth
May 21, 20256:10 AM EDT Updated 5 hours ago

Lawsuit filed by New York, Illinois, Oregon, 9 other states
State attorneys general say Trump misused emergency powers law
Oregon AG says tariffs will cost families $3,800/year
US Justice Dept says state estimates of losses are 'speculative'

NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters) - Twelve U.S. states will ask a federal court on Wednesday to halt President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, arguing that he overstepped his authority by declaring a national emergency to impose across-the-board taxes on imports from nations that sell more to the U.S. than they buy.

A three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade will hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Democratic attorneys general of New York, Illinois, Oregon, and nine other states. They say the Republican president has sought a "blank check" to regulate trade "at his whim."

The states claim the president badly misinterpreted a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify the tariffs. The law is meant to address "unusual and extraordinary" threats to the U.S.

Trump has said the U.S.’s decades-long history of importing more than it exports is a national emergency that has harmed U.S. manufacturers. But the states argue the U.S. trade deficit is not an "emergency" and that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs at all.

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https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-states-mount-court-challenge-trumps-tariffs-2025-05-21/