Newsom takes on Trump over tariffs he says are hurting California

By Alexei Koseff | CALmatters With the state budget hanging precariously in the balance, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today that California will sue to block President Donald Trump’s tariff powers. The lawsuit, which Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta plan to file in federal court this morning, argues that Trump does not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally enact tariffs. Trump cited the United States’ large trade deficit to declare a national emergency earlier this month and impose sweeping tariffs on the rest of the world. “President Trump’s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California families, businesses, and our economy — driving up prices and threatening jobs,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re standing up for American families who can’t afford to let the chaos continue.” In a matter of days in early April, Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to establish a universal 10% tariff on all countries importing goods to the United States, with even higher reciprocal tariffs on some nations, then abruptly reversed course hours after they took effect, pausing most of the reciprocal tariffs while ratcheting up the import tax on China to 145%. The chaos tanked the stock market, a huge...