US Democratic State Attorneys General: "Trump's Section 301 Tariffs Are Also Illegal"

US Democratic State Attorneys General: "Trump's Section 301 Tariffs Are Also Illegal"

Joint letter from 22 states to USTR... "Contradiction in exempting tariffs while claiming forced labor products"

US Democratic state attorneys general have stated that the third tariff measure attempted by the Donald Trump administration is also unconstitutional and illegal.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, announced on the 6th (local time) that he submitted a joint letter containing these contents, co-authored with the Democratic attorneys general of Oregon and Arizona, to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

19 other Democratic state attorneys general also signed the letter.

In the letter, they criticized the Trump administration's attempt to impose tariffs based on Section 301 of the Trade Act, stating, "They are using forced labor as a pretext to continue broad, illegal tariffs that are completely unrelated to their stated purpose."

They further pointed out, "The actual effect of these tariffs is not to bring about behavioral changes that reduce forced labor. Rather, it will perpetuate economic devastation by making goods more expensive for various states and their residents."

The letter particularly highlighted contradictions, such as the Trump administration citing Brazilian frozen beef, coffee, copper, and cobalt as examples of forced labor products, yet these very items were included in the tariff exemption list.

They pointed out, "They are unable to explain why it is justifiable to impose tariffs on numerous other products that have no risk of being produced by forced labor and do not distort the market, while importing these specific items tariff-free."

They also argued that the Section 301 investigation, which typically takes 12 to 18 months, was rushed in just two and a half months this time, and that there are potential violations of the Administrative Procedure Act by treating countries that take measures to prevent forced labor, such as Peru and Guatemala, the same as those that do not.

In a separate statement, Attorney General Bonta criticized, "After the first two attempts to impose tariffs were ruled illegal by the courts, President (Trump) is once again attempting to illegally impose comprehensive tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union (EU), which account for 99% of US imports."

In early last year, the Trump administration imposed global tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), but in February of this year, the Federal Supreme Court ruled them illegal and nullified them.

Immediately after the Supreme Court's decision, the Trump administration used Section 122 of the Trade Act to impose a 10% tariff on products from most countries, but this was also ruled illegal by a federal court in May. Following this, the administration announced a plan to impose additional tariffs of 10-12.5% on imports from 60 economies that failed to prevent the trade of products made with forced labor.

USTR plans to hold public hearings for three days starting on the 7th regarding this tariff imposition plan.

In response to Reuters' request for comment on the letter from the Democratic state attorneys general, USTR stated, "We do not comment on ongoing trade investigations."

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) submitted an opinion to USTR, requesting a suspension of the 12.5% tariff imposed on South Korean products or a reduction of the rate to 10%.