San Francisco, April 17, 2025 — The Europe Today: The State of California filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging former U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on foreign imports, alleging that the measures constitute an abuse of executive authority and are inflicting economic harm on both California and the broader U.S. economy.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco by California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, argues that Trump unlawfully invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to impose wide-ranging tariffs without Congressional approval. The Act grants the president special powers to address “unusual and extraordinary threats,” which the Trump administration cited in declaring the United States’ trade imbalance a national emergency.
Under the executive orders in question, Trump imposed a blanket 10% tariff on imports from all countries, with steeper tariffs targeting nations deemed to have high trade barriers against U.S. goods. While some of these measures were paused for 90 days, a 145% tariff on Chinese goods was implemented, with certain electronics exempted.
In response, China retaliated with a 125% tariff on U.S. imports, while the European Union has approved countermeasures that are currently on hold.
Governor Newsom and Attorney General Bonta contend that the 1977 Act does not authorize the imposition of such comprehensive trade barriers without Congressional involvement. They further argue that California, whose top trading partners include China, Mexico, and Canada, has already experienced economic setbacks and faces further risk if the tariffs remain in effect.
“California, the world’s fifth-largest economy, is disproportionately impacted by these unilateral and unjustified trade actions,” the lawsuit states.
The suit seeks an injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection from enforcing the tariffs.
This legal challenge adds to two other lawsuits filed against the Trump administration’s trade policies: one by the Liberty Justice Center in the Court of International Trade in New York, and another by a Florida-based small business owner targeting the tariffs on Chinese imports.
The case underscores ongoing tensions over the use of presidential emergency powers in trade policy and the broader debate surrounding the balance between executive authority and Congressional oversight.
