President Donald Trump has scored an early-round victory in legal bouts his administration is engaged in over import tariffs he’s imposed in 2025, but he’s also now facing another lawsuit filed by 12 states.

The U.S. Court of International Trade denied a motion from public interest law firm Liberty Justice Center, which has sued Trump and members of his administration over tariffs on behalf of five American businesses, that asked that federal authorities immediately be prevented from enforcing the import levies.

Separately, the states of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Vermont on April 23 filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade against the Trump administration over tariffs. The suit says the tariffs are illegal, and asks the court to prevent the government from enforcing them.

Here’s what’s in play.

A Preliminary Win 

In the Liberty Justice Center case, the court shot down the request for a restraining order that would have temporarily halted tariff implementation, ruling that the suing businesses failed to demonstrate they would suffer “immediate and irreparable harm” prior to a planned May 13 hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction on tariffs. The restraining order would have stopped the application of tariffs during the weeks leading up to that hearing.

The broader preliminary injunction request from Liberty Justice Center asks that the tariffs be put on hold until at least such time that the court renders a final decision in the case. Courts sometimes grant such requests if a plaintiff can make a strong argument that their suit could succeed on its merits and that they’ll suffer significant harm if the actions of the defendant they’re suing are allowed to proceed in the time before adjudication.

In a court filing, attorneys for Trump said the temporary restraining order request should be denied. The filing said the suing businesses “provide no evidence that they have paid tariffs pursuant to the Executive Orders they seek to challenge. Nor do they show that they plan to pay any tariffs during the 14-day maximum period for a (temporary restraining order). Moreover, it is well-established that mere economic injury is insufficient to show irreparable harm. This is particularly so here, where plaintiffs rely only on conclusory, speculative statements of future economic harm that they fear will occur, not specifically in the next 14 days, but at some unspecified time in the future.”

As of this writing, Trump’s team hadn’t filed a response to the broader preliminary injunction motion but was due to no later than April 29. The filing combating the temporary restraining order may hint at some of the administration’s arguments against the preliminary injunction being granted – and why the tariffs should be allowed to stand for good.

Just one example: The attorneys wrote that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which Trump has invoked as part of his legal foundation for imposing tariffs, authorizes the president to regulate importations, “which clearly includes the authority to impose tariffs.” The court filing says that through IEEPA, “Congress lawfully delegated to the President authority to regulate importation through the imposition of tariffs under specified circumstances,” such as national emergencies.

The crux of Liberty Justice Center’s argument is that the president lacks the legal authority to issue tariffs on countries around the globe without congressional approval. The suit says Trump doesn’t have the authority to invoke IEEPA for tariff implementation, in significant part because there’s no national emergency in play. The complaint targets the April 2-announced 10% baseline import tariffs and “reciprocal tariffs” on nations around the globe, which are currently paused but would be in all instances above the 10% baseline if reinstated.

In requesting the preliminary injunction, Liberty Justice Center argues, in part, that the businesses it represents will suffer irreparable harm if the tariffs are left on the books as the case proceeds. “The ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs represent an existential threat to plaintiffs’ businesses and to thousands of small businesses just like them around the country,” due in part to vastly higher importing costs, Liberty Justice Center argues.

A 12-State Lawsuit

The Trump administration is facing several other lawsuits over tariffs. The newest was filed by the aforementioned 12 states.

Similar to the Liberty Justice Center case, the complaint says the president lacks the legal authority to impose tariffs, arguing that IEEPA does not give Trump or any other president the legal foundation upon which to base the levies.

The lawsuit challenges executive orders Trump has issued that put tariffs of 145% on most products from China and 25% on many imports from Canada and Mexico, as well as the baseline import duty and paused reciprocal levies.

“Tariffs are awful for Americans and our economy, and it’s important to use every legal tool possible to reduce trade barriers and increase prosperity,” said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. “Colorado is standing up against President Trump’s recessionary tariff tax increase, which has been disastrous and is jeopardizing both U.S. leadership and the world economy.”

Meanwhile, the administration is facing at least three other lawsuits. Attorneys for Trump have requested that cases filed by the State of California, the New Civil Liberties Alliance on behalf of Florida business Simplified, and four members of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana be transferred from federal district courts to the U.S. Court of International Trade. As of this writing, there was no decision on those motions.

Tariffs have been the defining issue for the promotional products industry in 2025. The market imports the vast majority of products it sells in the United States. Soaring tariff rates are making products/importing much more expensive, disrupting importing and prompting a scramble to adapt sourcing practices while creating marketplace uncertainty that contributed to industrywide sales declines in the first quarter. The Trump administration has indicated it could reduce tariffs on China, but much remains uncertain.