Coalition of Democratic states challenges president's sweeping trade duties

Twenty-five states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in a bid to overturn a wave of tariffs imposed on trading partners including the United Kingdom, China and the European Union, in the latest legal challenge to the president's aggressive trade policies since his return to office in January 2025. The tariffs, which range between 10 and 12.5 per cent and came into effect in July, were imposed under Section 301 of the 1974 US Trade Act, legislation designed to target nations that allegedly fail to address the importation of goods produced with forced labour. In a legal document seen by the BBC, the coalition of Democratic states argued that the decision was "arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law", accusing the administration of using forced labour as a pretext to continue what they characterise as an illegal tariff scheme.

The White House has defended the measures, with spokesman Kush Desai asserting that the United States was "using its lawful authority" to address practices that burden American businesses, adding that any foreign countries failing to deal with forced labour imports were acting unreasonably and must be held to account. The duties cover 99.4 per cent of US imports, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative, a breadth that the lawsuit contends "defy the USTR's own stated aims and make a mockery of the statute used to justify them". The legal challenge draws attention to the speed of the administration's investigation, noting that the most recent probe into 60 trading partners lasted just two months, compared with eight months for the 2018 investigation that targeted China alone. "Typically, a Section 301 investigation into even a single economy takes much longer to complete," the lawsuit argued.

The legal action marks the latest chapter in a protracted battle over the president's use of Section 301, which was also deployed during his first term to impose tariffs on China, surviving previous court challenges. Desai observed that "Section 301 tariffs have proven to be a legally durable tool since the president's first term, and they remain so now". However, the states' lawsuit contends that the administration cannot "use forced labour as a pretext to continue its illegal tariff scheme", echoing concerns raised by several affected trading partners. Brazil and Japan have separately described the measures as "unjustified", while China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning characterised the tariffs as an "excuse for political manipulation", though the tit-for-tat tariffs war between Washington and Beijing remains on hold.

Political opposition to the tariffs has been vociferous. New York Governor Kathy Hochul described the levies as "nothing more than a tax on hardworking families", while Oregon attorney general Dan Rayfield said: "Despite losing every step of the way, Trump is trying yet again to inflict more chaos on working families and homegrown Oregon businesses. We're all paying the price for these unlawful tariffs, not foreign governments." The legal challenge follows a significant setback for the administration in April last year, when many of the president's so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs were struck down by the US Supreme Court, prompting tens of billions of dollars in refunds to companies that had paid the levies. Those tariffs were subsequently replaced by a temporary 10 per cent levy on all global imports, which expired in July.

Analysts have also questioned how countries would be able to demonstrate that they had properly addressed forced labour claims, with some suggesting the lawsuit will pose a "formidable challenge" to the president's levies. Alex Capri, a business lecturer at the National University of Singapore, told the BBC that there was a lack of credible evidence to support claims that countries had harmed US firms by violating forced labour rules, and predicted that "carve outs and walk-backs to gradually take the bite out of these tariffs". The Supreme Court, Hochul noted, "has made it clear that this administration cannot ignore the law to impose sweeping tariffs". The president has long argued that tariffs protect American workers and boost the US economy, but with more tariffs potentially on the horizon – the US is currently investigating 16 countries over claims of manufacturing overcapacity – the legal and political battles over trade policy show little sign of abating.