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FILE PHOTO \u2014 Attorney General William Tong speaks about a lawsuit against the latest round of tariffs at a media briefing Thursday, March 5 at the State Office Building in Hartford, CT. Credit: Donald Eng \/ CTNewsJunkie<\/p>\nFILE PHOTO \u2014 Attorney General William Tong speaks about a lawsuit against the latest round of tariffs at a media briefing Thursday, March 5 at the State Office Building in Hartford, CT. Credit: Donald Eng \/ CTNewsJunkie<\/p>\n
HARTFORD, CT \u2014 Connecticut has joined a third lawsuit against the Trump Administration\u2019s efforts to impose tariffs<\/a> on American consumers and businesses, according to Attorney General William Tong. The case, filed by a coalition of 25 states, challenges the administration\u2019s recent decision to increase tariffs on more than 80 countries that together account for 99.4% of all U.S. imports.<\/p>\n Tong said the costs associated with the tariffs would increase the price of essential consumer goods.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo losses in court should have been enough to get the message across,\u201d Tong said. But Trump still can\u2019t seem to grasp that he is not above the law. He\u2019s back with another unlawful, baseless attempt to impose tariffs and raise costs for families who are already feeling the strain of higher costs. We\u2019ve won twice, we\u2019ll win again, and we\u2019ll continue to protect Connecticut families.\u201d<\/p>\n The latest lawsuit is challenging Trump\u2019s most recent attempt to impose tariffs, despite lacking the legal authority to do so, Tong said.<\/p>\n First, Trump 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, Tong said.\u202fIn February, the Supreme Court rejected that claim<\/a>, agreeing with several state attorneys general that the IEEPA tariffs were unlawful.<\/p>\n Trump then turned to a separate law that had never been used before \u2014 Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974\u2014\u00a0 and announced 10% tariffs on most products worldwide. But state attorneys general challenged those tariffs, too, and in May the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the president acted unlawfully<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump has now turned to another law \u2014 Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 \u2014 and directed the United States Trade Representative to investigate the European Union and 59 other countries, to determine whether those countries are doing enough to combat forced labor in global trade, Tong said.<\/p>\n Late last month, instead of taking actions that would combat forced labor, the USTR imposed across-the-board tariffs similar to those that courts have struck down twice before.<\/p>\n The latest lawsuit contends that these actions exceed the administration\u2019s legal authority and violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The case was filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade and is titled State of Oregon, et al., v. Trump, et al.\u00a0<\/p>\n