"Trump's New Tariffs Are Illegal": 25 U.S. States Sue, Calling It a Trick to Keep Earlier Tariffs in Place

[Financial News]  

A lawsuit against the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs was filed on the 3rd, led by 25 Democratic-led states in the United States. They argued that President Donald Trump's imposition of sweeping tariffs on 60 countries amounted to an abuse of power.
According to CNBC, the complaint said the newly imposed tariffs are still illegal because they simply replace tariffs that had already been blocked by the Supreme Court. It added that, although the legal provisions used were different, the illegality was clear.
The states also said the Trump administration bypassed the procedures required by law. Before tariffs are imposed, an investigation into the countries concerned is required, but that step was skipped.
The 25 states also pointed out that although the administration imposed the tariffs on the grounds of forced labor, it failed to explain why a nearly uniform tariff rate was applied instead of different rates for each case.
In the complaint filed with the United States Court of International Trade (USCIT), the plaintiffs said the Trump administration's new tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on 60 countries were, in effect, equivalent to imposing tariffs on all U.S. imports, despite appearances. They said 99.4% of U.S. imports are subject to the new tariffs.
They argued that the administration is trying to use Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to continue the earlier tariffs that were blocked by the courts.
A small business group had previously filed a lawsuit with the same claim.

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