Another attempt to stop President Donald Trump’s tariffs came Tuesday as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion for a preliminary injunction.
The motion is part of the lawsuit against Trump that California filed over the tariffs in April in the U.S. District Court for Northern California. Ultimately, the suit could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.
In addition to Tuesday’s motion, California could file an amicus brief as early as Tuesday in the U.S. Court of the International Trade in Oregon v. Trump, according to a news release from the Governor’s Office.
Oregon and Arizona are leading 10 other states in suing Trump to stop tariffs that they call illegal. The Democratic attorneys general’ suit contends that under the Constitution, the Republican president can’t impose tariffs without congressional approval. The attorneys general also dispute Trump’s claim that he has the power to impose tariffs under a federal law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
In California, tariffs are expected to cost consumers $25 billion and result in the loss of 64,000 jobs, according to the Governor’s Office. The office added that the cost on California households is projected to total $40 billion.
“President Trump has overstepped his authority, and now families, businesses and our ports are literally paying the price,” Newsom said in a statement Tuesday. “As the largest economy in the nation, California has the most to lose from President Trump’s weak and reckless policies.”
The governor recently bragged about the state moving up to being the world’s fourth largest economy from the fifth.
Bonta said the tariffs could send California’s business owners and innovators into a “spiral of uncertainty.” The attorney general said the tariff war could cause a hike in the cost of living and a loss in jobs and wages.
“We are pulling out all the stops and will today ask the court to immediately halt these illegal tariffs while California argues its case,” Bonta said in the news release from the Governor’s Office.
Because of the tariffs, the state stands to lose $7.8 billion in tax revenue from capital gains, personal income tax and corporate revenue, the Governor’s Office said.
California is wrestling with a projected $10 billion deficit, but critics have noted that amount matches what’s being spent to expand Medi-Cal, the state’s taxpayer-financed health care system, to cover all income-qualifying illegal immigrants.
In 2024, California saw almost $675 billion in two-way trade, which supported millions of jobs throughout the state, according to the Governor’s Office.
More than 40% of California’s imports come from three countries affected by the tariffs – Canada, Mexico and China, Newsom said when he announced the state’s lawsuit against the Trump administration in April. That breaks down to $203 billion of the more than $491 billion in goods that California imported in 2024.
Trump and China agreed last weekend to temporarily lower each other’s tariffs while trade talks continue. U.S. stocks soared Monday in response and rose again Tuesday.
After California’s lawsuit to stop the tariffs was announced in April, the White House responded by saying Newsom should focus instead on “California’s rampant crime, homelessness and unaffordability.”
