“No state is poised to lose more than the state of California,” Newsom said in a statement.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s authority to initiate a global trade war by announcing unexpected tariffs on many of the world’s major economies.
According to The Associated Press, the lawsuit claims that President Donald Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, as well as a 10% import on all other imports, is broadly unlawful.
Attorneys say that, while the International Emergency Economic Powers Act lets a sitting president freeze and block transactions from foreign threats, it doesn’t authorize the executive to unilaterally implement tariffs.
Instead, the lawsuit claims that any presidential decision to enact tariff must be approved by Congress.
The White House has since criticized the lawsuit, emphasizing Trump’s belief that the tariffs will lead to long-term gains for the United States economy.
“Instead of focusing on California’s rampant crime, homelessness, and unaffordability, Gavin Newsom is spreading his time trying to block President Trump’s historic efforts to finally address the national emergency of our country’s persistent goods trade deficits,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement. “The entire Trump administration remains committed to addressing this national emergency that’s decimating America’s industries and leaving our workers behind with every tool at our disposal, from tariffs to negotiations.”
Newsom, however, claims that tariffs will lead to ballooning prices, both for everyday consumers and for businesses that rely on imported goods. In California’s case, Newsom believes that his state—the single largest economy in America, as well as the country’s leading importer—will prompt businesses to pass on costs to customers.
Newsome also noted that, with much of California’s operating income derived from capital gains-related taxes, recent blows to the stock market could make it more difficult for the state to continue providing critical taxpayer-funded services.
“No state is poised to lose more than the state of California,” Newsom said in a statement.
“That’s our state of mind,” he said. “That’s why we’re asserting ourselves on behalf of 40 million Americans.”
The Trump administration has already tried, repeatedly, to have lawsuit moved to the Court of International Trade.
“The Court of International Trade possesses ‘exclusive jurisdiction’ over ‘any civil action commenced against’ federal agencies or officers that ‘arises out of any law of the United States providing for […] tariffs, duties, fees, or other taxes … or under any law providing ‘for revenue from imports,’” the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in a motion requesting a change of venue.
“Here, plaintiffs challenge the President’s authority to impose tariffs under IEEPA,” the Justice Department said. “This question, including all threshold questions, falls squarely within the exclusive subject matter jurisdiction of the Court of International Trade because they arise out of laws providing for tariffs or the administration or enforcement of those laws. [The District Court] thus lacks jurisdiction over the case and should transfer it to the Court of International Trade.”
Newsom took the filing as an opportunity to mock the administration, taking to Twitter to suggest that the Trump administration is now running “scared.”
Sources
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