OAN Staff Blake Wolf
10:30 AM – Wednesday, April 16, 2025
California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that The Golden State is suing the Trump administration over President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.
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Newsom (D-Calif.) and California Attorney General (AG) Rob Bonta claimed on Wednesday that President Trump’s unilateral imposition of tariffs utilizing the International Economic Emergency Powers Act is “unlawful and unprecedented.”
“Californians are bracing for fallout from the impact of the President’s choices – from farmers in the Central Valley, to small businesses in Sacramento, and worried families at the kitchen table – this game the President is playing has very real consequences for Californians across our state,” Bonta wrote in a statement.
Newsom discussed the lawsuit on his podcast “This is Gavin Newsom.” He continued to argue that the GOP president does not hold “the unilateral authority to impose one of the largest tax increases in U.S. history.”
“Impacts of these tariffs are disproportionately being felt here in California, the No.1 manufacturing state in America, a state that will be significantly impacted by this unilateral decision by the president of the United States,” Newsom continued.
“President Trump’s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California families, businesses, and our economy – driving up prices and threatening jobs,” he added. “We’re standing up for American families who can’t afford to let the chaos continue.”
The lawsuit requests the federal court to block the implementation of the tariffs — marking the first state to challenge the Trump administration over the tariffs.
Meanwhile, President Trump has consistently explained that the tariffs are in response to the levies that other countries place on U.S. exports, reiterating on Tuesday: “We’re making tremendous amount of money, taking in billions and billions, hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs from other countries that, for many, many decades, just ripped off the United States. And it’s time that we not allow that to happen.”
Additionally, White House spokesman Kush Desai responded to the lawsuit as well, stating: “Instead of focusing on California’s rampant crime, homelessness, and unaffordability, Gavin Newsom is spending his time trying to block President Trump’s historic efforts to finally address the national emergency of our country’s persistent goods trade deficits.”
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