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Lawsuit Challenges Unlawful Tariffs that Are Increasing Prices on Americans
BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today joined a coalition of attorneys general in filing a second lawsuit against the Trump administration’s efforts to impose unlawful tariffs on American consumers and businesses. The case challenges the administration’s recent decision to increase tariffs on more than 80 countries that together account for 99.4% of all U.S. imports – costs that will be passed along to Americans already struggling to pay the price of essential consumer goods.
“Every time a court strikes down these tariffs, this Administration comes back with a new scheme to impose unlawful costs on Maryland families,” said Attorney General Brown. "My Office will not stand by while Marylanders are left footing the bill for groceries and everyday essentials because this Administration operates as if it is above the law.”
For more than a year, President Trump has inflicted chaos on the American economy by imposing tariffs without the legal authority to do so. Initially, the President claimed that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) allowed him to impose tariffs of any amount, on any product, from any country, for any length of time. In February, the Supreme Court rejected that claim, agreeing with several state attorneys general that the IEEPA tariffs were unlawful. President Trump then turned to a separate law that had never been used before – Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 – and announced 10 percent tariffs on most products worldwide. But state attorneys general challenged those tariffs, too, and in May the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the President acted unlawfully (although that ruling has been put on hold by an appeals court).
Rather than accepting those losses, President Trump turned to another law – Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 – and directed the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to investigate the European Union and 59 other countries, to determine whether those countries are doing enough to combat forced labor in global trade. Late last month, the USTR did what Trump wanted all along, imposing 10% and 12.5% tariff rates on nearly every economy that trades with the United States. In other words, instead of taking actions that would combat forced labor, the USTR reached a foregone conclusion and imposed across-the-board tariffs similar to those that courts have struck down twice before.
Today’s lawsuit challenges this latest round of tariffs. The complaint contends that these actions exceed the administration’s legal authority and violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The case was filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade and is entitled State of Oregon, et al., v. Trump, et al
A recent analysis by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York concluded that nearly 90 percent of the costs of tariffs in 2025 were paid by American consumers and businesses. By imposing another round of price increases on American consumers and businesses, the Trump administration is tripling down on their failed economic policies.
Maryland consumers, businesses, and state government are all directly in the crosshairs of these tariffs. Maryland itself purchases imported goods across state agencies and programs, making the state a consumer subject to these costs just like any Maryland family or business. Maryland officials have estimated that the administration’s first round of unlawful tariffs cost Maryland businesses and consumers $4 billion in extra costs.
Joining Attorney General Brown in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
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