AG Jennings sues Trump Administration to stop latest round of illegal tariffs

Attorney General Kathy Jennings today joined a coalition of attorneys general and governors in filing a lawsuit to block President Trump's latest efforts to impose illegal tariffs on American consumers and businesses. The case challenges President Trump's most recent efforts to increase tariffs worldwide without congressional approval.

"With this second round of illegal tariffs, the Trump Administration is both breaking the law and snatching money from the pockets of working families," said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. "No matter how many times he tries, we're going to work to make sure that Americans don't have to foot the bill for these illegal taxes."

For more than a year, President Trump has inflicted chaos on the American economy by imposing tariffs without the legal authority to do so. Initially, the President claimed that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) allowed him to impose tariffs of any amount, on any product, from any country, for any length of time. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court rejected that argument, concluding that the IEEPA tariffs were unlawful.

Rather than accepting that loss in court, President Trump immediately turned to a separate law that has never been used before - Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 - and announced 15 percent tariffs on most products worldwide, claiming it would address trade deficits. However, Section 122 does not apply: that law authorizes tariffs in limited circumstances, including when there are "large and serious balance-of-payments deficits." Notably, a trade deficit is not a balance-of-payment deficit. No balance-of-payment deficit exists - meaning that once again the President is acting unlawfully.

A recent analysis by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York concluded that nearly 90 percent of the costs of tariffs in 2025 were paid by American consumers and businesses. By imposing another round of price increases on American consumers and businesses, President Trump is doubling down on failed economic policies.

Today's lawsuit challenges this latest round of tariffs. The complaint (State of Oregon, et al., v. Trump, et al. in the U.S. Court of International Trade) contends that these actions by President Trump and his administration violate the law, upend constitutional separation of powers, and violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

Joining Attorney General Jennings in filing the lawsuit, which is led by the Attorneys General of Oregon, Arizona, California, and New York, are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. The Governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky are also joining the lawsuit.