By Tiffany Williams –
New York Attorney General Letitia James celebrated a legal victory on Tuesday after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled the Trump administration’s tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were illegal.
The decision comes after Attorney General James, along with a coalition of 11 other state attorneys general, sued the administration in April, arguing that the tariffs were unlawfully imposed and caused economic harm to workers and businesses. The court’s ruling affirms that the president cannot claim a fabricated economic emergency to justify billions in tariffs.
“Once again, a court has ruled that the president cannot invent a fake economic emergency to justify billions of dollars in tariffs,” James said. “These tariffs are a tax on Americans — they raise costs for working families and businesses throughout our country, causing more inflation and job losses. This decision is yet another major victory in our efforts to uphold the law and protect New Yorkers’ wallets.”
In May, the United States Court of International Trade ruled in favor of James and the coalition, declaring the tariffs invalid. The Federal Circuit’s ruling today affirms that the Trump administration lacked the authority to impose the tariffs by executive order under IEEPA.
Alongside New York, the coalition of attorneys general includes officials from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont.