California filed a lawsuit on Wednesday (16) to block the comprehensive tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump about foreign business partners, accusing Trump of abusing his powers and inflicting financial damage to the state and the population.
Trump imposed 10% tariffs on goods from all countries and higher rates for countries that, according to the government, have large barriers to imports from the US – most of which he later suspended for 90 days.
Trump also imposed a 145% rate on China, with exceptions for certain electronic products.
China retaliated with a 125% tariff against the US, and the European Union has approved tariffs to retaliate back also, although they are currently suspended.
The US Constitution gives Congress the authority to impose tariffs, and the law Trump cites as an authority for its new tariffs, the International Emergency Economic Powers Law (IEEPA), does not allow the president to “tax all products that enter the United States on a whim,” the California government said in its action.
“President Trump’s new tariff regime has had devastating impacts on the economy, creating chaos on stock and securities markets, eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalization at times, cooling investment in such a consequent presidential action without notice or process, and threatening to push the country to recession,” he added.
California, the fifth largest economy in the world, if the US states are compared to other countries, and the largest product importer among the US states, “bears a disordered portion” of tariff costs, according to the lawsuit.
Tariffs can damage California’s 12 ports, which receive 40% of imported goods to the US and provide stable tax revenue for the state.
In addition, retaliatory rates in China and other countries could damage California agricultural exports, which totaled $ 23.6 billion in 2022, which could cost thousands of jobs according to the process.
White House spokesman Kush Desai said on Wednesday that California governor Gavin Newsom should focus on fighting crime, lack of housing and high prices in his state, instead of trying to block Trump’s rates.
“The entire Trump government is still committed to dealing with this national emergency that is decimating US industries and leaving our workers behind with all the tools at our disposal, from tariffs to negotiations,” said Desai.
In the decrees that imposed the tariffs, Trump invoked laws, including IEEPA, which gives presidents special powers to combat unusual or extraordinary threats to the US.
The president said the US net commercial deficit of the rest of the world is a national emergency that endangers its production capacity and makes it dependent on foreign opponents.
In the lawsuit on Wednesday, filed at the San Francisco Federal Court, Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, both Democrats, asked a judge to prevent the internal security department and customs and border protection from applying tariffs.
The Trump government is already facing three similar lawsuits: one at the New York International Trade Court, filed by the Liberty Justice Center Business Defense Group, which seeks to block all tariffs; one in the Federal Court of Florida, driven by a small businessman seeking to block the tariffs about China; and a third moved in Montana by members of Blackfeet Nation, an American native community that encompasses Montana and Alberta’s Canadian province, which disputes Trump’s tariffs over Canada.
This content was originally published in “Chaos on the Market”: California processes Trump administration to block tariffs on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
