California on Wednesday sued President Donald Trump to halt his sweeping tariff regime, arguing that he is implementing his protectionist trade agenda illegally.
The federal lawsuit makes California the first state to challenge the Trump administration over its wide-ranging tariff plans, which have whipped up historic market volatility and frayed America’s relationships with its allies and trading partners.
“Donald Trump does not have the authority to unilaterally impose the largest tax hike of our lifetime with his destructive tariffs,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X. “We’re taking him to court.”
The lawsuit argues that Trump’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act — which he recently invoked to impose his so-called reciprocal tariff plan — is “unlawful and unprecedented,” Newsom’s office told NBC News.
The situation creates “immediate and irreparable harm to California, the largest economy, manufacturing, and agriculture state in the nation,” the office said.
The suit filed in U.S. District Court in northern California seeks to have Trump’s tariffs declared void.
