THE EDITOR – California Governor Gavin Newsom is suing Donald Trump over tariffs in an aggressive move to end the president’s stranglehold on global commerce.
Newsom’s lawsuit, announced Wednesday morning with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, is the first challenge from a U.S. state against Trump’s signature foreign policy cudgel.
California, the world’s fifth largest economy, stands to lose billions to tariffs with major state industries from Silicon Valley to agriculture heavily dependent on global trade.
“President Trump’s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California families, businesses, and our economy — driving up prices and threatening jobs,” Newsom said as it publish by politico.com on 16 April 2025.
“We’re standing up for American families who can’t afford to let the chaos continue.”
The lawsuit is Newsom’s most direct legal challenge to Trump’s agenda since the president retook office in January. The move instantly reignites California’s war with Trump and cements its place atop the resistance, after Newsom spent months appealing to the president for federal disaster relief.
It’s also notable as a unilateral challenge, underscoring the singular importance of the issue in California. Bonta has worked closely with other blue states on previous lawsuits challenging Trump’s immigration policies and federal funding cuts.
“Instead of focusing on California’s rampant crime, homelessness, and unaffordability, Gavin Newsom is spending 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 told POLITICO in a statement Wednesday.
Newsom and Bonta’s argument targets the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, the law Trump is using to impose tariffs without congressional approval. The two Democrats argue Trump lacks the authority to levy tariffs under the law, mirroring a similar case filed Monday by a group of U.S. businesses.
Trump is the first president to impose tariffs using the act, which authorizes the president to regulate financial transactions and foreign assets during emergency circumstances. He has defended the move by asserting America’s trade deficits with other countries pose a “national emergency.”
