Oregon AG Calls Out Trump’s Endless Tariff Schemes After Supreme Court Defeat

President Trump’s tariff tantrum shows no signs of stopping, and Oregon’s top legal officer is calling foul. After the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s initial attempt to wield a 50-year-old national emergency law to justify tariffs, Trump pivoted to a different, equally shaky legal claim under the Trade Act of 1974. But Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and 23 other state attorneys general aren’t buying it.

Speaking after a three-hour hearing at the Court of International Trade in New York City, Rayfield explained the absurdity of Trump’s approach with a simple analogy: “If I say, ‘Hey you don’t get to eat that cookie,’ and my son… would then blend the cookie up and try to drink it and consume the cookie in a different way, that’s effectively what the president’s trying to do.” In other words, Trump is trying to sneak tariffs through under a new guise after the courts shut down his original plan.

The Trade Act of 1974 allows presidents to impose temporary tariffs — capped at 15% for no more than 150 days — to address “fundamental international payment problems.” Trump has stretched this to mean trade deficits, a novel and legally dubious interpretation that Rayfield and his coalition argue is outside the president’s authority.

This lawsuit is the second major legal challenge against Trump’s tariff policies, following the Supreme Court’s rejection earlier this year. Rayfield warned that if the court rules against the states, the federal government will almost certainly appeal, dragging out the process and delaying any relief for American consumers and businesses burdened by these tariffs.

“Instead of working on refunds for Americans, they double down on this tariff policy,” Rayfield said bluntly. The message is clear: Trump’s trade wars continue to inflict economic chaos, and Oregon is once again at the forefront of the fight to hold the administration accountable.

This ongoing legal battle highlights a broader pattern of the Trump administration ignoring limits on executive power, pushing damaging economic policies that enrich cronies while punishing ordinary Americans. For voters and activists concerned about corruption and abuse of power, the stakes couldn’t be higher.