Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and a coalition of 21 other states are urging the United States Trade Representative





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*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:*
July 8, 2026




*Media Contact:*
Danny Wimmer <[email protected]>






AG Nessel Urges U.S. Trade Representative to Stop Hitting American Consumers, Businesses with Illegal Tariffs

*LANSING – *Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and a coalition of 21 other states are urging the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to change course and drop its plan to continue Trump’s illegal tariffs. In a comment letter (PDF) [ [link removed] ], the coalition pushed back on the USTR’s latest proposal – tariffs on the European Union and 59 other countries, after the Supreme Court ruled against the first attempt to impose similar tariffs in February and the Court of International Trade struck down the second attempt in May.

“Every single court to review the Trump tariff policy has found it flatly unlawful,” said Attorney General Nessel. “Yet, this administration is once again trying to bypass the rule of law. Our families and businesses are already stretched thin and simply cannot afford to pay the price for another round of illegal tariffs. It’s time for the White House to retire this failed agenda once and for all.”

For more than a year, President Trump has inflicted chaos on the American economy by imposing tariffs without the legal authority to do so. Initially, the President claimed that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) allowed him to impose tariffs of any amount, on any product, from any country, for any length of time. In February, the Supreme Court rejected that argument, concluding that the IEEPA tariffs were unlawful. President Trump immediately turned to a separate law that had never been used before—Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974—and announced 10 percent tariffs on most products worldwide. Following a challenge by Attorney General Nessel and 23 other states, [ [link removed] ] the U.S. Court of International Trade struck these tariffs down.

Now, Trump directed the USTR to investigate the European Union and 59 other countries, which together account for 99.4 percent of all U.S. imports, to determine whether those countries are doing enough to combat forced labor in global trade. Two and a half months later, the USTR’s report landed on the same conclusion Trump wanted all along: 10 percent tariffs on 14 economies, 12.5 percent tariffs on the other 46, with the exact same exceptions as before and no explanation of how the new tariffs will combat forced labor. 

A recent analysis [ [link removed] ] by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York concluded that nearly 90 percent of the costs of tariffs in 2025 were paid by American consumers and businesses. By imposing yet another round of price increases on American consumers and businesses, President Trump is tripling down on failed economic policies. For trade-dependent states like Michigan, the nation’s 5th largest importer, tariffs directly hit workers, families and the local economy.

The comment letter argues that this latest round of tariffs is illegal, outside the scope of the authority Congress gave the USTR, and unsupported by evidence.

Joining Attorney General Nessel in sending the comment letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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