Attorney General Ford Secures Legal Win Against Trump’s Unlawful, Economically Destructive Tariffs

Carson City, NV — Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford secured another victory against the Trump administration’s federal overreach after the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Court of International Trade’s ruling that the president’s attempted tariffs are unlawful. These tariffs, which AG Ford challenged legally alongside a multistate coalition, include both the so-called reciprocal tariffs on nearly all countries worldwide and the separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China that President Trump claimed were justified by concerns about drug trafficking.  A majority of the Federal Circuit concluded that the federal law the president invoked — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) — does not authorize the president to impose those tariffs.  The Federal Circuit is the latest court to conclude that these tariffs are unlawful. To date, every court that has considered the issue has concluded as much.

"We filed this lawsuit because President Trump's tariffs were unlawful. Both a federal district and court of appeals have now confirmed our contention,” said AG Ford. "This is a phenomenal legal victory for Nevadans, who would feel the brunt of these tariffs. I am happy the courts agree the president does not have the power to take this action.”

While the court also affirmed the Court of International Trade’s declaratory judgment invalidating the tariffs, it vacated the injunction ordering the federal government to stop collecting the tariffs.  The court concluded that the Court of International Trade needs to re-examine the scope of the injunction based on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Trump v. CASA regarding the propriety of universal injunctions.

Economic analysis submitted to the court in May shows that state and local governments in the 12 states making up the multistate coalition stood to pay at least $3.4 billion per year in additional costs due to the tariffs. The states also submitted a Federal Reserve report noting that businesses “expected elevated input cost growth resulting from tariffs” and that “most businesses expected to pass through additional costs to customers.”

The coalition of state attorneys general bringing legal action in this matter included AG Ford; the lead state attorneys general of by Oregon and Arizona; and the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York and Vermont.

###