On March 5, 2026, more than 20 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over a new 15% global tariff, arguing Trump is illegally circumventing the Supreme Court's February 20 ruling that struck down his IEEPA emergency tariffs as unconstitutional.
Just four days after the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling, Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 — a provision that has never been used in the law's 50+ year history — to impose a 10% tariff on all foreign goods. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the administration would raise the rate to the 15% legal maximum within the week, and stated his “strong belief” that tariff rates would return to their pre-SCOTUS levels “within five months.”
The lawsuit, led by Democratic attorneys general from Oregon, New York, California, and Arizona, argues that Section 122 was designed to address “fundamental international payments problems” — not as a backdoor replacement for tariffs the Supreme Court just struck down. The states argue Trump cannot use an obscure, never-invoked trade provision to achieve the same unconstitutional result the Court blocked.
Bessent's public admission that the goal is to restore the exact tariff rates the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional undermines any claim that Section 122 is being used for its intended purpose, and reveals the administration's intent to simply circumvent the ruling.