NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a coalition of 21 other attorneys general and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania in filing a lawsuit aimed at stopping President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on the Caribbean and other countries.

Shortly after the United States (US) Supreme Court ruled in favour of James and 11 other attorneys general who sued to stop Trump’s “illegal” tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), he issued a new proclamation imposing tariffs on a range of countries, including those in the Caribbean using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.

James and the coalition argue in their lawsuit that these new tariffs are illegal because the president does not have the power to impose them.

“The tariffs do not meet the requirements of Section 122 and violate the constitution’s protection of the separation of powers,” they said, noting that they are seeking a court order declaring the new tariffs imposed unlawful and ordering the Trump administration to issue refunds to states for the tariff costs that they paid as a result of the president’s proclamation.

“Once again, President Trump is ignoring the law and the constitution to effectively raise taxes on consumers and small businesses,” James told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

“After the Supreme Court rejected his first attempt to impose sweeping tariffs, the president is causing more economic chaos and expecting Americans to foot the bill. These tariffs will only drive up the cost of living, and I will continue to uphold the rule of law to protect New Yorkers,” she added.

New York Governor, Kathy Hochul said the Trump administration’s “illegal and reckless tariff policies continue to weigh on the businesses, farmers and consumers across New York State, hindering the state’s overall economy”.

“It is time the federal government refunds the US$13.5 billion taken from hardworking New Yorkers and end the economic chaos that these unlawful taxes have created.

“I applaud Attorney General James for fighting for New Yorkers and look forward to continuing to work with her to put money back into the pockets of our families and workers,” Hochul added.

James said no president has ever attempted to impose tariffs using Section 122.

She said the law is specifically designed to allow limited tariffs to address certain monetary crises, including a significant “balance of payments” deficit — “a distinct economic problem that can occur in a fixed-rate exchange system like the gold standard”.

However, James said the US abandoned such an exchange system half a century ago and as a result, balance of payments problems no longer occur.

The coalition argies that Trump’s primary rationale for imposing these tariffs — the country’s trade deficit — is not a legitimate reason for imposing tariffs under Section 122.

In fact, they note that the administration has already admitted that trade deficits “are conceptually distinct from balance of payments deficits”.

In addition, the coalition says Trumps’ tariffs violate other requirements in Section 122 and that the law requires new tariffs to be applied consistently in several ways, including that they are not applied discriminatorily.

Yet, the coalition argues that the new tariffs exempt many goods from Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They also include 84 pages of specific product exceptions.

The lawsuit seeks an order from the United States Court of International Trade declaring the Section 122 tariffs illegal and preventing them from being implemented, as well as an order to refund the states the costs of these tariffs while they were in effect.