On August 3, 2026, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield led a coalition of 23 attorneys general and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania in filing a third lawsuit against the Trump administration’s attempts to impose illegal tariffs on American consumers and businesses.

For more than a year, the Trump administration 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 2026, the Supreme Court rejected that claim, agreeing with several state attorneys general that the IEEPA tariffs were unlawful. The Trump administration then turned to a separate law that had never before been used – Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 – and announced 10% tariffs on most products worldwide. A coalition of state attorneys general challenged those tariffs as well, and in May the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the president acted unlawfully.

Now the Trump administration has 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 imposed 10% and 12.5% tariff rates on nearly every economy that trades with the U.S., tariffs that were similar to those that courts have struck down twice before.

The coalition’s lawsuit challenges this latest round of tariffs and contends that these actions exceed Trump’s legal authority and violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The coalition asks the court to declare the tariffs unlawful and enjoin the Trump administration from imposing the tariffs.

Despite losing every step of the way, Trump is trying yet again to inflict more chaos on working families and homegrown Oregon businesses. We’re all paying the price for these unlawful tariffs, not foreign governments. Just as many families are back to school shopping, these tariffs are driving up costs for necessities like clothing and electronics.Attorney General Dan Rayfield