Twenty-five states sued the Trump administration on Monday over its latest tranche of global tariffs, arguing the president's team did not sufficiently justify the new levies.
Trump last month imposed tariffs of 10%-12.5% on more than 80 nations, arguing they were not doing enough to combat forced labor in their supply chains. The levies replaced a temporary 10% global tariff that was put in place after the Supreme Court struck down many of Trump's tariffs in February.
The lawsuit argues the administration rushed through investigations required under law, and didn't demonstrate that the new tariffs will effectively combat forced labor in global supply chains.
"Instead, the administration is using 'forced labor' as an excuse to continue its policy of indiscriminately enacting damaging tariffs on a wide range of countries," New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said in a statement on the new lawsuit, filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade.
The Supreme Court in February ruled that most of Trump's second-term tariffs were illegal, saying he overstepped his authority by imposing them under a novel interpretation of presidential emergency powers. The Court of International Trade also ruled against the temporary tariffs that Trump imposed to replace the illegal levies, but the temporary tariffs expired before an appeals court could hear the case.
Trade lawyers have said any lawsuit against Trump's new forced labor tariffs would likely face longer odds than challenges to his previous levies. Trump imposed the new levies under a more tested part of U.S. trade law - Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 - and courts have given presidents more leeway to impose tariffs under that provision.
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