California is set to launch a legal challenge against former President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures, accusing him of exceeding his constitutional authority and causing severe economic disruption to the state and the nation.
Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta will file the lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday, calling Trump’s actions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) “unlawful and void.”
The suit contends that only Congress has the power to impose tariffs, and that Trump’s unilateral trade decisions have triggered global instability, harming American families and businesses.
“President Trump’s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California’s economy, driving up prices and threatening jobs,” said Newsom.
“We’re standing up for American families who can’t afford to let the chaos continue.”
Bonta echoed the sentiment, slamming the administration’s “chaotic and haphazard” tariff strategy.
“From farmers in the Central Valley to small businesses in Sacramento, this reckless trade war is hurting real people,” he said.
Trump has defended his tariff agenda as a means to secure “fair trade,” boost domestic industry, and reassert American economic dominance.
Earlier this month, he imposed a blanket 10% tariff on nearly all imports, including a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico. China, now facing up to 145% tariffs, has responded with retaliatory measures.
California the world’s fifth-largest economy and the U.S.’s largest importer is particularly vulnerable.
The lawsuit warns of “immediate and irreparable harm” to industries like agriculture, which exported nearly $24 billion in goods in 2022.
Newsom and Bonta plan to announce the lawsuit from California’s Central Valley, home to farmers now bracing for the fallout of rising trade tensions.
