Twenty-Five States Sue to Block Trump’s New Global Tariffs

Overview

• A coalition of 25 states filed a complaint at the U.S. Court of International Trade on Monday, August 3, asking judges to block the tariffs, annul them and require reimbursement for sums already collected.
• The administration announced 10% and 12.5% duties on July 24 that apply to goods from about 60 partners and cover roughly 99% of U.S. imports, invoking Section 301 and citing failures to prevent products made with forced labor.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection has begun repaying collections from an earlier, court-rejected tariff program and has sent about US$100 billion for refunds so far, a process that has mostly benefited registered importers.
• The states argue the White House exceeded presidential authority by repurposing Section 301 for broad, economy‑wide levies, a charge that follows the Supreme Court’s February rejection of emergency-based tariffs under IEEPA.
• The suit raises political and diplomatic stakes by pressing how far the president can act on trade, by heightening costs for consumers and small businesses, and by prompting formal objections from trading partners such as the EU and Brazil.