A U.S. District Court judge on Monday dismissed California’s lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s tariffs, ruling that the case belongs in the New York-based U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT).
The ruling on Monday marks a partial win for the Trump administration, which had requested that the lawsuit be transferred to the CIT instead of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where California officials had filed the lawsuit. Still, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit opens the floodgates for California to have a chance to appeal the ruling to the liberal-leaning U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Once again, the Trump Administration’s legal arguments on tariffs are vindicated, making it clear that tariffs are an issue to be litigated exclusively in the Court of International Trade,” a White House spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “District courts have no jurisdiction over the IEEPA tariffs. California Democrats should focus on their state’s massive problems instead of forum shopping to haphazardly undermine the Trump administration’s trade policies that protect the national and economic security of the United States.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement on Monday in response to the court’s ruling, saying that California officials “strongly believe this case belongs in federal district court and are pleased the court considered our wishes in dismissing this case so we have the opportunity to seek review.”
In April, Bonta and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that the Golden State’s economy would be “directly harmed” by Trump’s sweeping tariffs. The lawsuit also alleged that the president’s attempt to implement the tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) was unconstitutional.
“Multiple courts have ruled against President Trump’s use of emergency powers to enact these unlawful tariffs,” Newsom spokesperson Tara Gallegos said in a statement to the DCNF. “This decision did not depart from those; it dismissed the case on a procedural ground. We disagree, as did a federal court in D.C. We have appealed the decision — and we expect to prevail.”
When asked for comment, Bonta’s office referred the DCNF to the California Attorney General’s Monday statement. The White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect statements from the White House and Newsom spokespeople.
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