Federal court blocks President Trump’s global tariffs after challenge from AG Kris Mayes, others

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and a coalition of nearly two dozen states have successfully blocked President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to slap across-the-board tariffs on imported goods.

A federal court on Thursday granted summary judgment to the 24-state coalition, invalidating 10% tariffs that Mayes argued were driving up costs for families across the Grand Canyon State.

In a ruling handed down by the U.S. Court of International Trade, a judge found that Trump exceeded his authority by misapplying the Trade Act of 1974.

“President Trump cannot invent powers the law does not give him,” Mayes said in a statement. “These illegal tariffs were driving up costs for Arizona families and businesses while creating chaos and uncertainty throughout the economy.”

The legal battle centered on Section 122 of the Trade Act, a provision that allows a president to impose tariffs specifically to address “large and serious balance-of-payment deficits.”

The administration had used the law to justify the taxes as a response to general trade deficits. However, the court sided with the states, ruling that a trade deficit and a balance-of-payment deficit are not the same thing.

The court’s decision declared the president’s proclamation “invalid” and noted that the tariffs were “unauthorized by law.”

The 10% tariffs were Trump’s second attempt at the policy after the Supreme Court previously struck down a similar move made under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

“Today’s ruling makes clear that the president is not above the law,” Mayes said. “My office will continue fighting to protect Arizonans from unlawful actions that threaten their pocketbooks and our economy.”

Arizona joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general and two governors in the lawsuit.

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