Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 22 attorneys general and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, today filed a lawsuit to block President Trump’s latest efforts to impose illegal tariffs on American businesses and consumers. The case challenges President Trump’s most recent efforts to increase tariffs worldwide without congressional approval.

“Despite our clear and decisive Supreme Court win in our first illegal tariffs lawsuit, President Trump is doubling down on his failed economic policies by imposing another round of price increases on Americans,” Raoul said. “Since the Trade Act of 1974 was enacted, no prior president has attempted to use the extraordinary power of Section 122 to unilaterally impose sweeping, arbitrary tariffs. I am proud to join my colleagues in yet another fight to prevent hardworking Americans from footing the bill for the Trump administration’s unlawful tariffs.” 

Today’s lawsuit is the Trump administration’s latest effort to impose tariffs that violate the law, upend constitutional separation of powers and violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

In April 2025, Raoul and a coalition filed a lawsuit to block the administration’s first attempt to impose illegal tariffs because, as the suit explained, only Congress can “lay and collect” taxes. When imposing the first round of tariffs, the administration’s executive orders stated the powers are granted by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA); however, that law applies only when an emergency presents an “unusual and extraordinary threat” from abroad. Raoul and the coalition argued in short that the law does not give the president the power to impose these tariffs.

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court rejected the president’s unprecedented and unlawful use of  IEEPA and agreed the tariffs were unlawful.

Rather than accepting that loss in court, President Trump immediately turned to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which is a separate law that has never been used before, and announced 15% tariffs on most worldwide products. However, Raoul and the coalition state in their latest lawsuit that the president is again acting unlawfully. Section 122 authorizes tariffs in limited circumstances, including when there are “large and serious balance-of-payments deficits.” But a trade deficit, which Trump has relied on as the basis for the tariffs, is not a balance-of-payment deficit, and so Section 122 does not apply.

The president’s first round of illegal tariffs threatened Illinois’ economy and have harmed taxpayers by increasing costs to the state and local governments. For example, the Illinois Department of Transportation alone estimated that over two years, the state’s costs for transportation projects would have been $249 million to $585 million higher due to tariffs. The Supreme Court’s decision last month might have mitigated those increased costs to the state in construction projects, technology and other expenses, but the newly imposed tariffs again create harms to Illinois’ economy.  

Joining Raoul in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Also joining the lawsuit are the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.