NY Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference on Feb. 14, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
A dozen states sued President Donald Trump and his administration on Wednesday, seeking a court order declaring that his new tariffs are illegal.
“The president does not have the power to raise taxes on a whim, but that’s exactly what President Trump has been doing with these tariffs,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement on the lawsuit.
The suit was filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade in Washington, D.C.
It argues that a president has no authority to arbitrarily impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the U.S. law that Trump has cited in executing his tariff policy.
The civil complaint comes more than a week after a group of five small businesses filed a similar lawsuit against Trump in the same court, challenging the legality of the new tariffs on the same grounds.
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