The latest round of leftist lawfare seemingly put Democrats on the side of forced labor in an effort to stop President Donald Trump from holding foreign nations economically accountable.
Much as regulation and bloated bureaucracy have impeded free enterprise, the potential for the president’s policies to succeed has largely been hampered by dark money-funded activism and lawsuits. Taking another crack at the latter, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a lawsuit, united with 24 other blue state attorneys general, to obstruct the administration’s latest attempt to impose tariffs.
“After losing at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs,” expressed James in a statement as the suit requesting a three-judge court in the U.S. Court of International Trade argued the White House was using “forced labor as a pretext to continue its tariff scheme.”
“No matter how the administration tries to justify it, the law and our Constitution are clear that the president does not have the power to impose sweeping tariffs on whatever countries he wants,” she went on. “I will continue to stand up to this administration’s illegal policies that threaten to raise costs for New Yorkers.”
Along with the Empire State, states suing the administration include:Â Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Supporting the suit, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in her own statement, “The Supreme Court has made it clear that this administration cannot ignore the law to impose sweeping tariffs. I will not stand by as New Yorkers continue to suffer the consequences of the President’s trade war, and I’m proud to join Attorney General James in fighting back against the Trump administration to protect families and businesses across our state.”
On July 23, a memo from the president addressed investigations into the economies of 59 countries and the European Union that began in March 2026. Citing Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the U.S. Trade Representative was said to have determined as of June that “acts, policies, and practices of each of these economies are unreasonable and burden or restrict U.S. commerce and thus are actionable under [the Trade Act].”
Specifically, the nations are alleged to have failed to prohibit the production of goods using forced labor, prompting Trump to respond with tariffs ranging from 10%-12.5%.
Countering the claims of the lawsuit, White House senior deputy press secretary Kush Desai said in a statement reported by the Associated Press, “The United States is using its lawful authority to obtain the elimination of unreasonable acts, policies, and practices that burden U.S. commerce. A foreign country’s failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is unreasonable and burdens U.S. commerce, including American workers, and must be addressed.”
“Section 301 tariffs have proven to be a legally durable tool since the president’s first term, and they remain so now,” he added.
Roughly a week after the memo, the president sounded off on the Supreme Court and its rulings on birthright citizenship as well as tariffs, contending judicial activists on the court cost the nation “TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS!”
In addition to the blue state lawsuit, two small businesses also filed suit in the Court of International Trade in July to oppose the newest tariffs in challenges New York Law School Center for International Law co-director Barry Appleton suggested the president has a fair chance of defeating.
“Presidents have used [Section 301] for decades, and Congress built it with real guardrails: investigation, consultation, a public record,” he told the AP. “The government’s defense won’t be ‘I had no power to do this.’ It will be, ‘I stayed inside the lines Congress drew.’ That is a real fight, not a formality, and it is the one that will decide this case.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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