California to ask federal judge for sweeping pause to Trump's tariffs
The California attorney general's office said Tuesday it will seek a preliminary injunction in its case challenging President Trump's tariff policy, a move that could result in a court order freezing sweeping import duties on worldwide products that have rocked the global economy and U.S. markets since last month.
The case, filed last month in the Northern District of California, argues that Trump lacks authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose the tariffs he announced April 2 on nearly all U.S. trading partners, as well as those levied against China, Mexico and Canada due to the fentanyl trade, a set of tariffs that used the same national security rationale.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for next week, and a decision on the preliminary injunction could come from the San Francisco federal court as soon as mid-June, an official with the attorney general's office told The Times.
Read more: Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and entertainment groups lobby Trump for tax provisions
Trump announced a new baseline for global tariffs on April 2 and a series of country-specific tariff rates that sent banks and financial institutions into a panic. The White House has retreated on several of the harshest elements of the policy, but tariffs remain far higher on most trading partners, inflicting continuing harm on California, the state's lawyers argue.
"Uncertainty and unpredictability are bad for business, bad for the economy, and bad for California," Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said in a statement. "California is set to experience an outsized share of losses due to our larger economy, workforce, and exposure to trade. We are pulling out all the stops and will today ask the court to immediately halt these illegal tariffs while California argues its case."
In a filing in another case, the attorney general's office submitted an amicus brief supporting an effort by other states to halt the tariffs in the Court of International Trade, which could issue a ruling on the matter even earlier.
'President Trump has overstepped his authority, and now families, businesses, and our ports are literally paying the price,' said Gov. Gavin Newsom. 'As the largest economy in the nation, California has the most to lose from President Trump's weak and reckless policies.'
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox twice per week.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBS News
8 minutes ago
- CBS News
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green to resign from Congress
Washington — House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican, announced Monday that he plans to resign after Congress passes President Trump's budget bill. "Recently, I was offered an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up. As a result, today I notified the Speaker and the House of Representatives that I will resign from Congress as soon as the House votes once again on the reconciliation package," Green said in a statement. His forthcoming resignation was first reported by Punchbowl News. As the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Green led an effort last year to impeach then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the Biden administration's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. Green has served in Congress since 2019. He had planned to retire at the end of last year instead of seeking a fourth term, but quickly reversed course after Mr. Trump urged him to reconsider. "Though I planned to retire at the end of the previous Congress, I stayed to ensure that President Trump's border security measures and priorities make it through Congress," Green said. "By overseeing the border security portion of the reconciliation package, I have done that. After that, I will retire, and there will be a special election to replace me." Green's departure could further eat into House Republicans' narrow majority, depending on when he leaves and when a special election is held in his solidly red district. Republicans can currently afford to lose three votes, but there are three vacancies from Democrats who died this year. Special elections to replace them are scheduled for the fall. Congressional leaders have given themselves a self-imposed deadline of July 4 to send the reconciliation package to Mr. Trump. The House passed the bill before Memorial Day, and the Senate is expected to make changes to it in the coming weeks before sending it back to the lower chamber. contributed to this report.


Hamilton Spectator
11 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
DC prepares for Trump's military parade with 18 miles of fencing and 175 magnetometers
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the nation's capital cleans up from the culmination of World Pride this past weekend, focus now shifts to a very different massive event — Saturday's military parade to honor the 250th birthday of the Army and the 79th birthday of President Donald Trump. 'We're preparing for an enormous turnout,' said Matt McCool of the Secret Service's Washington Field office, who said more than 18 miles of 'anti-scale fencing' would be erected and 'multiple drones' would be in the air. The entire District of Columbia is normally a no-fly zone for drones. Army officials have estimated around 200,000 attendees for the evening military parade, and McCool said he was prepared for 'hundreds of thousands' of people. 'We have a ton of magnetometers,' he said. 'If a million people show up, then we're going to have some lines.' A total of 175 magnetometers would be used at security checkpoints controlling access to the daytime birthday festival and the nighttime parade. Metropolitan Police Department chief Pamela Smith predicted 'major impacts to traffic' and advised attendees to arrive early and consider forgoing cars for the Metro. 'This is a significant event with a large footprint,' she said. 'We're relying on the public to be an extra set of ears and eyes for us.' The military parade has been designated a National Special Security Event — similar to a presidential inauguration or state funeral. That status is reserved for events that draw large crowds and potential mass protests. It calls for an enhanced degree of high-level coordination among D.C. officials, the FBI, Capitol Police and Washington's National Guard contingent — with the Secret Service taking the lead. The Army birthday celebration had already been planned for months. But earlier this spring, Trump announced his intention to transform the event — which coincides with his 79th birthday — into a massive military parade complete with 60-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks and Paladin self-propelled howitzers rolling through the city streets. Multiple counter-protests of varying sizes are planned for Saturday, with the largest being a mass march to the White House dubbed the No Kings rally. Officials say they are also on alert for signs that the immigration-related clashes between law enforcement and protesters currently roiling Los Angeles would spread. 'We're paying attention, obviously, to what is happening there. We'll be ready,' McCool said. 'We have a robust plan for civil disobedience.' Agent Phillip Bates of the FBI's Washington Field office, which is tasked with counterterrorism and crisis management, said there were 'no credible threats' to the event at the moment. Lindsey Appiah, the deputy mayor for public safety, told The Associated Press last week that the city had longstanding plans for the Army birthday celebration. But those plans 'got a lot bigger on short notice' when Trump got involved. Still, Appiah said the city has grown 'very flexible, very nimble' at rolling with these sort of changes. ____ For more details, including road closures and security restrictions, go to: . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .


Boston Globe
12 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
A Trump family project spurs resignations and a criminal charge in Serbia
Advertisement In November, one week after Trump won reelection, the Serbian government greased the skids by declaring that the site — a bombed-out building that serves as an icon to Serbians' suffering during a 1999 conflict — was no longer considered a culturally protected asset. That paved the way for the Trump family project. Dozens of architects and cultural historians at the state-run Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments cried foul, accusing the government of violating the law. Several days after the government's decision, they fired off a letter saying the property's status as an 'immovable cultural property' could be revoked only if a team of the institute's experts approved it. And they hadn't. 'From the beginning, we knew it was a political decision,' said Estela Radonjic Zivkov, the institute's former deputy director. She said she was pressured by state intelligence officers not to challenge the government on this case, a clear sign of Serbian leaders' intense interest in the project. She did so anyway. Advertisement Now, seven months later, the Trump family project has become both a Serbian scandal and a glaring example of just how far a foreign government was willing to go to further the financial interests of Trump's family. And it underscores recurring concerns that the family's business dealings have become harder to separate from Trump's official decisions. Serbian college students who have been leading mass protests against Aleksandar Vucic, the country's strongman president, have seized on the development as an example of what they see as their government's corrupt ways. In late March, thousands demonstrated at the site. Last month, they and other critics celebrated a surprise victory. Serbia's organized crime prosecutor charged Goran Vasic, Zivkov's boss and the director of the cultural institute, with abuse of power. The prosecutor's office said Vasic had admitted falsifying a document to justify stripping the site of its protected status. No one knows how far the inquiry will go. But one question that has been publicly raised is whether Sinisa Mali, Serbia's powerful finance minister, pressured cultural heritage officials to either back the project or resign. Mali has ties to the White House through Richard Grenell, a longtime Trump ally and the current envoy for special missions. Mali has declined to comment on the project, citing the continuing investigation. Affinity Partners, Kushner's company, says the deal is under review. Vucic has minimized the criminal inquiry, saying that 'there was not any kind of forgery.' Advertisement Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, has said that 'everything President Trump does is to benefit the American people.' Vucic's office did not respond to a request for comment, but the Serbian leader said last year that he 'died laughing' at the notion that 'I used this for political influence on Trump.' As far back as 2013, Donald Trump was eyeballing the Belgrade site for a hotel. The idea arose again in his first term as president. Grenell, who then was Trump's troubleshooter for the fractious relationship between Serbia and Kosovo, encouraged Serbian leaders to consider redeveloping the site with American investment. After Trump lost reelection in 2020, Grenell urged Kushner to take up the project and served as an early intermediary. Grenell met with the Serbian president in 2022 and 2023 and posted images of himself on social media with Mali in 2021. Grenell could not be reached for comment. By May 2024, the Serbian government struck a deal with a company affiliated with Kushner. It agreed to give the developers a 99-year, no-cost lease that could be converted to ownership, also free of charge, according to a draft agreement reviewed by The New York Times. In return for contributing the land, the Serbian government will receive 22 percent of the development's profits, according to people familiar with the deal. There was a hitch: The Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments wasn't going along. Dubravka Djukanovic, an architect and college professor who led the institute, was opposed to changing the site's protected status. In an interview, she said the complex, which was designed by a renowned Serbian modernist architect, should instead be restored and put to public use. Advertisement Last June, she said, she was summoned to a meeting with Mali. Olivera Vuckovic, director of a parallel city institute, was also summoned, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of job repercussions. Mali had a blunt message, that person said: Get behind the project or resign. Djukanovic said she swiftly resigned because of the meeting with Mali, but she declined to give further details because of the investigation. Vuckovic could not be reached for comment. The issue simmered for another six months, until after Trump won reelection. On Nov. 14, the Serbian government announced it had revoked the site's protected status. At the cultural institute, Zivkov, then the deputy director, said the staff immediately got to work on a letter saying that the government had 'grossly violated the Law on Cultural Heritage.' If the government trampled its own law in this case, the letter said, 'any cultural property that inconveniences an investor or poses a political or other obstacle may be erased in the same way.' It is unclear whether it was the letter from the institute's staff that prompted the criminal investigation. The institute's director was temporarily detained for questioning, then charged with abuse of power in mid-May. He has not yet appeared in court. Ian Brekke, the top lawyer for Affinity Partners, flew to Belgrade right after that news broke, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe confidential business matters. Serbian officials told him the controversy boiled down to a simple administrative error, the person said, but Kushner's team is still assessing the situation. Advertisement This article originally appeared in .