Governor Hochul and Attorney General James Announce Lawsuit Against Trump Administration to Stop Latest Round of Illegal Tariffs

Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that New York joined a coalition of 24 other states to sue the Trump Administration for once again implementing illegal tariffs that will raise costs for hard working families and businesses nationwide.

"President Trump's illegal tariffs are nothing more than a tax on hardworking families, driving up the cost of groceries, household essentials, building materials and countless everyday goods that New Yorkers rely on," Governor Hochul said. "The Supreme Court has made it clear that this Administration cannot ignore the law to impose sweeping tariffs. I will not stand by as New Yorkers continue to suffer the consequences of the President's trade war, and I'm proud to join Attorney General James in fighting back against the Trump Administration to protect families and businesses across our state."

Attorney General Letitia James said, "After losing at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs. No matter how the administration tries to justify it, the law and our Constitution are clear that the president does not have the power to impose sweeping tariffs on whatever countries he wants. I will continue to stand up to this administration's illegal policies that threaten to raise costs for New Yorkers."

After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the President's sweeping tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Court of International Trade struck down tariffs imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act, the Trump administration is trying yet again to implement illegal tariffs, this time under Section 301 of the Trade Act.

While the administration claims to be using Section 301 to combat forced labor in global trade, the lawsuit argues that this is a pretext for imposing the same sweeping tariffs the administration has repeatedly tried and failed to enact. The administration has violated the law by failing to follow Section 301's requirements for imposing tariffs and implementing new tariffs without any clear connection to their stated goal of combating forced labor practices. The state plaintiffs are asking the Court of International Trade to declare these tariffs illegal.

Section 301 gives the United States Trade Representative (USTR) the authority to take action to stop a trading partner's "unreasonable or discriminatory" acts or policies. In March 2026, the Trump administration announced investigations into 59 countries and the European Union (EU) under Section 301, claiming to investigate forced labor practices in global trade. On July 23 - the day that the previous round of tariffs the administration tried to implement under Section 122 were set to expire - the administration enacted sweeping new tariffs on the EU and these countries under Section 301.

Investigations into single countries under Section 301 are complex and typically take up to a year to complete. The states argue that the administration's tariffs based on a supposed investigation into countries' efforts to combat forced labor do not satisfy the requirements of Section 301. 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.

The states argue that the administration has violated the Administrative Procedure Act by imposing these tariffs. The administration failed to conduct a meaningful investigation or engage substantively with testimony and comments submitted, and then arbitrarily applied across-the-board tariffs to a sweeping range of countries and products with no meaningful explanation for how the tariff rates would combat forced labor. The lawsuit also argues that USTR's authority under Section 301 is limited to specific circumstances and subject to rigorous procedural requirements, and that Congress has only delegated limited tariff authority to the executive branch. The states are seeking a court order declaring the tariffs illegal.

Joining New York in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.