25 US states challenge Trump tariffs in major lawsuit

The Trump administration’s tariffs are under fire as twenty-five US states filed a lawsuit against unilaterally imposed tariffs on 60 trading partners.

Last month, President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs of 10 percent to 12.5 percent on goods from the countries that are the major trading partner of America.

The tariffs, which came into effect in July, were imposed on economic countries including the UK, China, Canada, Japan, India and the European Union. The motive behind this move is the failure on the part of these nations to adequately address forced labour.

As reported by BBC, In the wake of these tariffs the coalition of Democratic states slammed the Trump administration’s decision calling the decision “arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.”

In response, White House spokesman Kush Desai replied, "The US is using its lawful authority" to address practices that threaten the efficacy of American businesses.

According to a lawsuit filed by the US states, “The Trump administration cannot use forced labour as a pretext to continue its illegal tariff scheme.”

"The tariffs the USTR imposed are so broad that they defy the USTR's own stated aims and make a mockery of the statute used to justify them," it said.

Even New York Governor Kathy Hochul criticized these tariffs, calling them nothing more than a tax on hardworking families.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement "Despite losing every step of the way, Trump is trying yet again to inflict more chaos on working families and homegrown Oregon businesses.”

He added that instead of foreign countries the American businesses are suffering because of these tariffs.

When Trump announced the imposition of these tariffs, several countries expressed disappointment and China slammed them as ‘unilateral actions” and "excuse for political manipulation".

Since his return to the office in 2025, President Trump has made tariffs as a bargaining chip. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down many of the wide-ranging duties Trump imposed on global trading partners and called them illegal.