WA sues to block the Trump administration’s latest round of illegal tariffs

Attorney General Nick Brown today joined a coalition of attorneys general in suing 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.

"Washington consumers already paid for the previous tariffs imposed by the President, and these latest illegal tariffs will continue to extract more of our hard-earned dollars for absolutely no reason," Brown said. "Our state should not be subjected to this damaging economic whiplash."

For more than a year, President Trump has inflicted chaos on the American economy and hardship to American families by imposing sweeping 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 the loss issued by the nation's highest court, President Trump immediately turned to a separate law that has never been used before-Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974-and imposed 15 percent tariffs on most products worldwide, seemingly to address trade deficits. But 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, 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.

Tariffs take a particularly big toll in Washington, where 40% of jobs are tied to international trade. An analysis of the President's previous tariffs by the Office of Financial Management estimated that the resulting disruptions would put 30,000 jobs at risk, particularly in agriculture and aircraft manufacturing, slow the state's economic growth, and cause declines in state and local tax revenue. While the President's new tariffs are not exactly the same, they will likely cause similar harm.

Today's complaint contends that these actions by President Trump and his administration violate the law, upend constitutional separation of powers, and violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The case is entitled State of Oregon, et al., v. Trump, et al. and was filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

The case is led by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. In addition to Brown, the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the Governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania also joined the lawsuit.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

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