Attorney General Dan Rayfield and a coalition of 21 other states are urging the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to change course and drop its plan to continue Trump's illegal tariffs. Once again, Attorney General Rayfield is calling on Trump to stop illegally raising prices on families and small businesses.

"Every time Trump loses this issue in the courts, he finds another way to slap tariffs on people, and Oregon families are paying the price," said Attorney General Rayfield. "Life is becoming more unaffordable by the day, and working Oregonians are the ones absorbing this cost, not the trading partners this policy is supposedly aimed at."

In a comment letter, the states pushed back on the USTR's latest proposal - tariffs on the European Union and 59 other countries, after the Supreme Court ruled against their first attempt in February and the Court of International Trade struck down their second attempt in May.

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. In February, the Supreme Court rejected that argument, concluding that the IEEPA tariffs were unlawful. President Trump immediately turned to a separate law that had never been used before-Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974-and announced 10 percent tariffs on most products worldwide. But Oregon led the lawsuit that challenged those tariffs as well.

Now, Trump directed the USTR to investigate the European Union and 59 other countries, which together account for 99.4 percent of all U.S. imports, to determine whether those countries are doing enough to combat forced labor in global trade. Two and a half months later, the USTR's report landed on the same conclusion Trump wanted all along: 10 percent tariffs on 14 economies, 12.5 percent tariffs on the other 46, with the exact same exceptions as before and no explanation of how the new tariffs will combat forced labor.

"Oregon agrees that forced labor has no place in the marketplace," said Attorney General Rayfield. "But the USTR isn't fighting forced labor with these tariffs. It rushed through a so-called investigation and came back with the same tariffs courts struck down twice."

A recent analysis to open YouTube in a new window. 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 yet another round of price increases on American consumers and businesses, President Trump is tripling down on failed economic policies.

Experts estimate that in Oregon to open YouTube in a new window, the tariffs will raise the cost of living for the average family by more than $1200 a year. This essentially imposes a sales tax on citizens of the state, something that Oregonians have voted down for years.

In 2025, Oregon companies imported more than $28 billion in parts and products. Small businesses in Oregon rely on imports, and stability in trade policy is crucial for these businesses to survive. When prices go up for the businesses, those costs are passed down to consumers.

Today's letter argues that this latest round of tariffs is illegal, outside the scope of the authority Congress gave the USTR, and unsupported by evidence.

The comment is led by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Also joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.