AG Brown sues to block Trump administration’s latest round of illegal, price-inflating tariffs

In response to the Trump Administration’s latest efforts to impose illegal tariffs on American consumers and businesses, a coalition of attorneys general including Attorney General Nick Brown, filed a lawsuit to block the tariffs.  

The case challenges the Administration’s recent decision to impose tariffs on more than 80 countries that together account for 99.4% of all U.S. imports—costs that will be passed along to Americans already struggling to pay the price of essential consumer goods.

“Washington consumers and businesses deserve economic stability from their federal government, not constant whiplash,” said Brown. “This latest round of tariffs will increase prices for Washingtonians. Last time, we successfully blocked these tariffs because we were able to show the concrete harm they were doing to Washingtonians. We anticipate being successful this time as well.”

For more than a year, President Trump has inflicted chaos on the American economy by imposing 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. In February 2026, the Supreme Court rejected that claim, agreeing with several state attorneys general that the IEEPA tariffs were unlawful. 

President Trump then turned to a separate law that had never been used before—Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974—and announced 10 percent tariffs on most products worldwide. But state attorneys general challenged those tariffs, too, and in May 2026 the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the President acted unlawfully and specifically blocked the Section 122 tariffs for Washington state.

Rather than accepting those losses, President Trump turned to another law—Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974—and directed the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to investigate the European Union and 59 other countries, to determine whether those countries are doing enough to combat forced labor in global trade. 

Late last month, the USTR did what Trump wanted all along, imposing 10% and 12.5% tariff rates on nearly every economy that trades with the U.S. In other words, instead of taking actions that would combat forced labor, the USTR reached a foregone conclusion and imposed across-the-board tariffs similar to the tariffs the courts have struck down twice before.

Today’s lawsuit challenges this latest round of tariffs. The complaint contends that these actions exceed the administration’s legal authority and violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The case was filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade and is entitled State of Oregon, et al., v. Trump, et al.. 

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, the Trump Administration is tripling 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 a previous round of the President’s 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.

Joining Brown in today’s lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Read the complaint. 

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