The United States' most populous jurisdiction, California, and its Governor Gavin Newsom are suing the Trump administration in a lawsuit aimed at blocking President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on foreign trading partners.
In the lawsuit filed in the US Federal Court, the state is accusing Mr Trump of abusing his executive powers and inflicting harm on California and the country.
"Today I announced a lawsuit on behalf of the state of California suing the Trump administration. California's the largest manufacturing state in our union, one of the largest trading partners around the globe," Mr Newsom said in a post on X.
"No state will be impacted more than the state of California as it relates to the unilateral authority that's been asserted by the Trump administration to impose the largest tax increase in modern American history."
Mr Trump imposed 10 per cent tariffs on goods from all countries and higher tariffs for countries the administration says have high barriers to US imports, most of which he later paused for 90 days.
He also imposed a 145 per cent tariff on China, with exceptions for certain electronics, while China retaliated with a 125 per cent tariff against the US and the European Union approved its own retaliatory tariffs which have since been paused.
The US Constitution vests the authority to impose tariffs in Congress, and the law that Mr Trump cites as authority for his new tariffs — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) — does not allow the president to "tax all goods entering the United States on a whim," California said in its lawsuit.
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"President Trump's new tariff regime has already had devastating impacts on the economy, creating chaos in the stock and bond markets, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalisation in hours, chilling investment in the face of such consequential Presidential action with no notice or process, and threatening to push the country into recession," the lawsuit said.
The legal move from California marks the strongest pushback yet against a tariff roll-out that has sent global stock markets into meltdown, and left businesses across the US fretting about uncertainty.
"It's the worst own-goal in the history of this country,"
Mr Newsom said.
"One of the most self-destructive things that we've experienced in modern American history."
With 40 million people California would be the world's fifth-largest economy if it were an independent country and is the largest importer of goods among US states. The state also accounts for 14 per cent of US GDP.
Mr Trump's tariffs could cripple the state's 12 ports, which take in 40 per cent of goods imported to the US and provide steady tax revenue.
The retaliatory tariffs from China and other nations could also harm California's agricultural exports, which totalled $US23.6 billion ($37.1b) in 2022, potentially costing thousands of jobs, the lawsuit says.
White House spokesman Kush Desai said on Wednesday that Mr Newsom should focus on addressing crime, homelessness, and high prices in his state instead of trying to block Mr Trump's tariffs.
"The entire Trump administration remains committed to addressing this national emergency that's decimating America's industries and leaving our workers behind with every tool at our disposal, from tariffs to negotiations," Mr Desai said.
In executive orders imposing the tariffs, Mr Trump had invoked laws including the IEEPA, which gives presidents special powers to combat unusual or extraordinary threats to the US.
The Republican president said that the United States' net trade deficit relative to the rest of the world is a national emergency endangering its manufacturing capacity and making it dependent on foreign adversaries.
Mr Trump has also long-prized tariffs as a tool to achieve what he says is the urgent task of rebalancing America's trading relationships, and pledged on the campaign trail that he would hit imports with extra levies.
Initial punitive tariffs against Mexico and Canada were built on with his self-declared "Liberation Day," which saw onerous charges imposed on scores of countries, including allies and partners.
Many of those duties have since been paused, but their chaotic announcement sent global stock markets into spasms, wiping out trillions of dollars of value.
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In California's lawsuit, Mr Newsom and California Attorney-General Rob Bonta — who are both Democrats — asked a judge to bar the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection from enforcing the tariffs.
The United States has gone in a matter of weeks "from free capitalism to crony capitalism, just like that." Mr Newsom said.
"This is the personification of corruption...this is smash-mouth, in-your-face, every minute of every day, every hour.
"How in the hell are we sitting by and allowing this to happen?"
The Trump administration already faces three similar lawsuits — one in the New York-based Court of International Trade by business advocacy group Liberty Justice Center seeking to block all of the tariffs, one in Florida federal court by a small business owner seeking to block the tariffs on China, and a third filed in Montana by members of the Blackfeet Nation — a Native American tribe that spans Montana and Canada's Alberta province — challenging Mr Trump's tariffs on Canada.
Experts say the tariffs are on shaky legal ground, because the law cited by the president is meant to address "unusual and extraordinary" threats to the US.
"We're asking the court to rein in the president … and uphold the constitution," Attorney-General Bonta said.
"The president is yet again acting as if he's above the law, he isn't.
"It's simple, Trump does not have the authority to impose these tariffs. He must be stopped."
This is not the first Trump-Newsom clash
Mr Newsom's lawsuit comes just months after President Trump slammed Californian officials for alleged incompetence in the wake of the deadly wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles.
The fires were the most destructive in southern California's history, with at least 30 people killed and more than 16,000 structures destroyed.
In January, Mr Trump described the disaster as "one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our country" and accused Californian officials of having "no idea how to put them out".
Those comments also led to a heated political stoush between Mr Trump and the Californian governor over crucial water supplies needed by firefighters during the blazes to put them out.
About 40 per cent of the Los Angeles city water comes from state-controlled projects connected to northern California and the state limited the water it delivers this year.
One of Mr Trump's first executive orders signed after being sworn back into office this year was a decree to "immediately restart the work … to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply."
ABC/Wires
