California governor Gavin Newsom said that the state will sue to halt Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs in a move that challenges the US president’s unprecedented use of emergency powers to upend the global trading order.
The lawsuit, which will be filed on Wednesday by Newsom and state attorney-general Rob Bonta, is the second to challenge Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs and could lead to a judge curtailing the president’s trade powers.
Trump earlier this month hit the US’s major trading partners with steep “reciprocal” tariffs of up to 50 per cent, before temporarily pausing the higher rates and leaving in place a levy of 10 per cent on most countries.