California sues to block Trump's 'illegal' tariffs

California filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to block President Donald Trump from enacting his tariff plans, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced.

Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday morning. It argues that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing tariffs without congressional approval, and calls on the court to declare Trump's tariffs void and block their implementation.

"The uncertainty is pronounced, and it is profound in the state of California," Newsom said at a Wednesday press conference. "The impacts of these tariffs disproportionately impact the state of California."

"It's not just the coast and technology," he added. "No state is poised to lose more than the state of California. So that's why we're standing up."

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Bonta noted that California is the "fifth-largest economy in the world" and argued that tariffs have "very real consequences for Californians across our state."

"Trump may claim to be a great businessman, but his tariffs are truly terrible for businesses," Bonta said at the press conference.

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White House spokesman Kush Desai responded to the lawsuit, instead pointing out California's "rampant crime" and homeless problem.

"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," Desai told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. 

"The entire Trump administration remains committed to addressing this national emergency that’s decimating America’s industries and leaving our workers behind with every tool at our disposal, from tariffs to negotiations," Desai said.

Trump's sweeping tariffs have caused dozens of nations to flock to the U.S. to negotiate trade deals, though they also threaten steep price hikes for Americans.

Last week, Trump put a 90-day pause on reciprocal, customized tariffs he had imposed across the globe, an abrupt change of course. Simultaneously, the Trump administration upped the ante on its tariff on China to 125%, which was raised yet again on April 9 to 145%.

Trump has justified his tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA). The law allows the president to employ certain economic policies in the event of an emergency, but Newsom and California argue tariffs are not among those powers.

"The IEEPA gives the President authority to take certain actions if he declares a national emergency in response to a foreign national security, foreign policy, or economic threat.  The law, which was enacted by Congress in 1977, specifies many different actions the President can take, but tariffs aren’t one of them. In fact, this is the first time a president has attempted to rely on this law to impose tariffs," Newsom's office said in a statement.

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"It is difficult to imagine a more economically significant set of actions than the one Trump is taking on tariffs, which have inflicted hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses on a whim, using a statute that doesn’t mention tariffs. The Court, applying this doctrine even-handedly, will find that such expansive action absent congressional approval is a clear violation of the law," the statement continued.

Fox News Digital first scooped in early April that Newsom directed state officials to pursue "strategic" relationships with countries announcing retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., urging them to exclude California-made products from those taxes. He also is making a bid to entice Canadians to travel to California as he looks to boost international travel following a sharp decline in U.S. tourism sparked by Trump’s tariff policies.