California is suing President Donald Trump to stop his tariffs, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday at a Central Valley orchard.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, could ultimately end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Newsom said the stakes are high. The Golden State has more to lose than any other in the nation with a disproportionate impact on its manufacturing and agricultural sectors, the Democratic governor told reporters.
Almond farmer Christine Gemperle started the news conference by saying how she was uncertain how her family business, which endured three droughts and the COVID-19 pandemic, would survive the war over tariffs.
“Farming is still hard work. Weather makes every year a gamble. The last thing we need is more uncertainty,” Gemperle said.
Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters Trump has exceeded his authority under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act.
California’s lawsuit noted the word “tariffs” doesn’t appear in the 1977 law and that no previous president has used the IEEPA to impose tariffs. The suit also states Congress, not the president, has the power to impose tariffs.
“President Trump’s new tariff regime has already had devastating impacts on the economy, creating chaos in the stock and bond markets, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalization in hours, chilling investment in the face of such consequential Presidential action with no notice or process, and threatening to push the country into recession,” the lawsuit contends.
Tariffs are hitting Wall Street hard and impacting Americans’ 401K retirement accounts, Newsom told reporters. “The uncertainty is pronounced, and it’s profound in California.”
More than 40% of California’s imports come from three countries hit hard by the tariffs – Canada, Mexico and China, Newsom said. That breaks down to $203 billion of the over $491 billion in goods that California imported in 2024.
The Governor’s Office noted that Canada, Mexico and China are also the top three destinations for California’s exports. The nations buy almost $67 billion of California products, which the Governor’s Office said was more than one-third of the state’s $183 billion in exported goods in 2024.
Newsom noted California sends $83 billion more to the federal government than it received in federal funding. The state is also the nation’s leading agricultural producer and has more than 36,000 manufacturing firms that employ over 1.1 million Californians.
The White House responded to the lawsuit by saying Newsom should concentrate on other issues.
“Instead of focusing on California’s rampant crime, homelessness and unaffordability, Gavin Newsom is spending his time trying to block President Trump’s historic efforts to finally address the national emergency of our country’s persistent goods trade deficits,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.
