Trump Administration sued over tariffs by conservative-backed legal group

WASHINGTON: A powerful legal group backed by conservative funding sued President Donald Trump, setting up an early legal clash over the significant US tariffs his administration announced this week.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance said Thursday the president illegally imposed an emergency tariff on Chinese goods. NCLA is representing a small retail stationery business named Simplified, which claims it will suffer "severe" harm from his "unconstitutional" tariffs on China.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Florida may be the first legal challenge to the sweeping new US tariffs. The levies, which were announced by Trump on Wednesday, have roiled global markets and caused US stocks to plunge.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who is named as a defendant along with her agency, defended the tariffs in a statement Friday.

"For too long, America has been targeted by unfair trade practices that made our supply chain dependent on foreign adversaries, eroded our industrial base, and hurt American workers," she said.