North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is taking the Trump administration to court after it imposed a new wave of tariffs that Jackson argues are unlawful. Jackson is joined by 23 other states in this lawsuit. The complaint, filed by the Attorney General of Oregon, alleges the new 15% tariffs exceed the power President Donald Trump holds.
“North Carolinians have already paid billions in unlawful tariffs – our farmers, our manufacturers, and our communities can’t bear more,” Jackson said in a press release. “I’m taking the federal government to court because they broke the law again, they harmed North Carolinians, and I can prove it.”
Jackson has sued the Trump administration over tariffs before, with the previous tariffs recently being struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court for violating federal law. The 6-3 ruling from the country’s highest court argues that the President did not have the authority to implement his widespread tariffs, even under the 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), under which Trump enacted them.
Now, Trump’s newest round of tariffs is being put in play under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Trump made the announcement shortly after the Supreme Court ruling and publicly chastised the judges who ruled against him, two of whom were appointed by him. Jackson argues that the Trade Act of 1974 doesn’t allow the president to issue these tariffs under the nation’s current financial circumstances.
Though the previous tariffs were deemed illegal, they had already been in place for some time, affecting a number of consumer goods from cars to groceries, and led to Americans fronting the cost through increased prices.
Jackson said the new round of tariffs is estimated to impact about 1.2 trillion worth of imported goods nationally. For North Carolina, the state has already paid nearly $3.5 billion in tariffs since Trump first enacted them in 2025.
The new tariffs are set to go into effect this week and will expire in 150 days if no court intervention is carried out.
