Attorney General Neronha, coalition sue Trump Administration to stop latest round of illegal tariffs
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha today joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general and two governors in filing a lawsuit to block President Trump’s latest efforts to impose illegal tariffs on American consumers and businesses. The case challenges President Trump’s most recent efforts to increase tariffs worldwide without congressional approval.
“Like most everything this President does, his imposition of tariffs has been fraught with chaos, and Americans are literally paying the price,” said Attorney General Neronha. “While I may not always agree with the Supreme Court’s decisions, they recently made clear, in no uncertain terms, that the President cannot unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs. As I’ve said many times before, the Trump Administration would do well to brush up on the Constitution, which grants Congress the power to levy taxes and regulate foreign commerce, not the President. Americans don’t want economic uncertainty, they want stability; something which is severely lacking in this Administration. Americans shouldn’t have to pay more on goods because of the erratic whims of one man, and we will fight to make sure they don’t.”
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. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court rejected that argument, concluding that the IEEPA tariffs were unlawful.
Rather than accepting that loss in court, President Trump immediately turned to a separate law that has never been used before—Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974—and announced 15 percent tariffs on most products worldwide, seemingly to address trade deficits. But Section 122 does not apply. That law authorizes tariffs in limited circumstances, including when there are “large and serious balance-of-payments deficits.” Notably, a trade deficit is not a balance-of-payment deficit, meaning that once again the President is acting unlawfully.
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, President Trump is doubling down on failed economic policies.
Today’s lawsuit, filed in the United States Court of International Trade, challenges this latest round of tariffs. The complaint contends that these actions by President Trump and his administration violate the law, upend constitutional separation of powers, and violate the Administrative Procedure Act.
Joining Attorney General Neronha in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
