California sues Trump administration over ‘unlawful tariffs’

Los Angeles, April 17, 2025
California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that the western US state which has the largest economy in the nation is suing the Trump administration over the President’s sweeping “unlawful tariffs” on international trading partners.

“President Trump’s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California families, businesses, and our economy — driving up prices and threatening jobs,” Newsom said on Wednesday in a statement, adding that “We’re standing up for American families who can’t afford to let the chaos continue”.

“Donald Trump does not have the authority to impose these destructive and chaotic tariffs. America stands to lose too much,” said the Governor in a post on social media platform X.

“We’re taking him to court,” said the Governor.

“California is the largest manufacturing state in our union, one of the largest trading partners around the globe. No state will be impacted more than the state of California as it relates to the unilateral authority that’s been asserted by the Trump administration to impose the largest tax increases in modern American history,” he noted.

Newsom said that “In America, forty per cent of goods movements in this country come through two ports of entry in California. About 50 per cent of that from China itself”.

In the lawsuit, expected to be filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, California officials will argue that the law, known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Trump cited to impose the tariffs, does not grant him the ability to unilaterally adopt those tariffs.

California, also the most populated US state, is the first state in the nation to sue Trump administration on tariffs, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Golden State is the largest importer among all US states, with more than $675 billion in two-way trade supporting millions of jobs throughout the state.

Mexico, Canada and China are California’s top three export destinations, buying nearly $67 billion in California exports, which was more than one-third of the state’s $183 billion in exported goods in 2024, according to the data released by the Governor’s office.(Agency)