U.S. states sue to stop Trump’s forced labour tariff on dozens of countries

By Sean Boynton
Global News
August 3, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

More than two dozen US states filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to strike down President Trump’s tariffs on 60 trading partners — including Canada — over forced labour concerns, arguing he exceeded his authority. The tariffs were announced last month under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974. …But the lawsuit, filed by Oregon and 24 other Democrat-led states in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, argues the tariffs are simply meant to replace Trump’s previous temporary 10% global tariff that expired just as the new duties were announced. The timing “confirms that the tariff action is pretextual, arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to Section 301’s statutorily constrained purpose,” the statement of claim says. …The tariff action merely attempts to continue the president’s blanket global tariff policy, and the attempt ‘to obtain the elimination’ of forced labor in trading partners’ supply chains is pretextual, it is unlawful,” the court document says.

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