Attorney General Mayes Sues Trump Administration to Stop Illegal Tariffs
PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes today co-led a coalition of attorneys general in filing a third lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s efforts to impose illegal tariffs on American consumers and businesses. The case challenges the Administration’s recent decision to increase 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.
“Donald Trump has lost in court after court trying to unilaterally impose tariffs, yet for more than a year he has recklessly pressed ahead — and Arizonans have paid the price,” said Attorney General Mayes. “Tariffs have resulted in higher grocery prices, bigger bills for small businesses trying to stay afloat, and chaos in nearly every sector of our economy. I will never stop fighting to protect Arizonans from unlawful taxes the President is trying to impose on them."
President Trump has persistently 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 at his whim impose tariffs of any amount, on any product, from any country, for any length of time. In February, the Supreme Court rejected that claim, agreeing with several state attorneys general that the IEEPA tariffs were unlawful. The same day the Supreme Court blocked those tariffs, President Trump turned to a different statute that, like IEEPA, had never been used to impose tariffs 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 the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled they were also unlawful.
Rather than accepting those losses, President Trump turned to yet 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 actually combat forced labor, the USTR reached a foregone conclusion and imposed across-the-board tariffs similar to those that courts have struck down twice before.
Today’s lawsuit challenges the Trump Administration’s latest round of tariffs. The complaint contends that these actions exceed the Administration’s and USTR’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 and unlawful economic policies that continue to squeeze the already tight pockets of Americans everywhere.
The lawsuit is led by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Also joining are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
A copy of the complaint is available.