Oregon Attorney General Rayfield sues Trump administration over tariffs

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- As the ongoing legal battle rages over the tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, Oregon is launching a lawsuit against those tariffs.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield's office announced the lawsuit, which was filed electronically in the Court of International Trade in New York, just after noon on Wednesday.

The lawsuit, which lists the states of Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York and Vermont as co-plaintiffs, claims that since Trump assumed office for a second time, the president's tariffs policies are created by "executive order, social media posts, and agency decree" when the U.S. Constitution assigns the responsibility to Congress.

"These edicts reflect a national trade policy that now hinges on the President's whims rather than the sound exercise of his lawful authority. By claiming the authority to impose immense and ever-changing tariffs on whatever goods entering the United States he chooses, for whatever reason he finds convenient to declare an emergency, the President has upended the constitutional order and brought chaos to the American economy," the lawsuit claims.

In the press conference, Rayfield called Trump's economic policies "nothing short of chaotic" and "unlawful." He also said that he hopes that this lawsuit will eventually "restore stability to the economy."

This announcement comes just one day after Rayfield announced a new "Federal Oversight" page on the Oregon Department of Justice's website.

The page provides "real-time access to information about Oregon’s legal efforts to block unlawful actions by the Trump administration that threaten Constitutional rights and funding for health, education, federal agencies and more," his office said in a release.

It also includes spots to report problems with Social Security, provide information for and by federal workers who have been fired and a directory to key Oregon cabinet members who advise Rayfield on health, labor, education and the environment.

“This page on our website gives people the latest updates in our 13 multi-state cases to date," Rayfield said in a statement. "We realize that’s a large number, and it can be hard to follow. We’re hoping this will give the public the tool they need to understand what we’re doing and where Oregon stands in these cases to protect our citizens and agencies.”

During a press conference later on Wednesday, Rayfield was joined by Oregon State Rep. Daniel Nguyen, Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor and business owners Pat Hubbell of Brooklyn Pharmacy and Todd Nelson of Bountiful Farms to talk about the impact of the tariffs.

Watch the entire press conference in the video player below.