Suit by US Small Businesses Challenges Legality of Trump's New 'Forced Labor' Tariffs
By Reuters | 24 Jul, 2026

Trump's latest round of tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners is alleged to be another illegal attempt at subrogating authority to impose import tariffs at will.

A cargo ship full of shipping containers is seen at the port of Oakland, California, U.S., August 4, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Two U.S. small businesses on Friday challenged President Donald Trump's latest round of tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners, saying that the new policy, like most of Trump's previous tariffs, went beyond the president's authority to tax imports.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. trade court in New York, argues that the new tariffs require more detailed country-specific findings about "forced labor to be legally justified. The two small businesses, backed by a nonprofit legal group that successfully sued over previous rounds of tariffs, argued that the president is trying to re-impose tariffs that were already ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court.

(Reporting by Dietrich KnauthEditing by Nick Zieminski)