12 US states file lawsuit over Trump's tariffsg

A coalition of 12 US states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to challenge the Trump administration's tariffs, arguing that the president cannot impose such levies without Congress's approval.

"President Trump's insane tariff scheme is not only economically reckless -- it is illegal," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement.

The southwestern state is joined by Democratic-led states including Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and others in the lawsuit. Additionally, California filed a similar suit a week earlier, reports AFP.

President Donald Trump has shaken markets during his second term, upending decades of free trade policy with his "Liberation Day" announcements of new tariffs against multiple countries.

Trump has imposed an extra 145 percent import duty on China, prompting Beijing to retaliate with its own 125 percent tariffs on US goods. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that he is working on securing a "fair deal with China."

Meanwhile he has imposed 10 percent tariffs on other trade partners -- and he is threatening more punishing levies.

In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, the states argue that the 1977 law invoked by Trump does not allow him to use emergency measures to impose tariffs, a power constitutionally reserved for Congress.

"By claiming the authority to impose immense and ever-changing tariffs on whatever goods entering the United States he chooses, for whatever reason he finds convenient to declare an emergency, the President has upended the constitutional order and brought chaos to the American economy," the lawsuit alleges.

Trump has said his protectionist policy will return manufacturing jobs to the United States.

"No matter what the White House claims, tariffs are a tax that will be passed on to Arizona consumers," Mayes said.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Trump's approval rating has fallen steadily during his first three months in office, hitting a low of 44 percent this week.

Democrats are seizing the opportunity to illustrate how his policies are hurting pocketbooks.

Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom called Trump's tariff policy "the worst own-goal in the history of this country."