A dozen US states have jointly sued President Donald Trump's administration to block what they call illegal tariffs on trading partners. The states say the tariffs harm consumers by raising prices.



The state of New York said on Wednesday that a coalition of 12 states filed the civil lawsuit with the US Court of International Trade. They are seeking a court order for the administration to stop enforcing the tariffs.



Their statement says the Constitution assigns the power to lay and collect duties to Congress, not the President.



The states argue that the Trump tariffs are unlawful because the circumstances for imposing them cannot be regarded as an emergency under the law invoked by the president.



New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Trump's "reckless tariffs have skyrocketed costs for consumers and unleashed economic chaos across the country."



The governor said, "We can't let President Trump push our country into a recession."



The action is mostly led by Democratic Party governors in an apparent effort to apply political pressure on the Trump administration.



A White House spokesperson criticized the move, calling it a "witch hunt" against President Trump.



Besides New York, the coalition is made up of Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Vermont.



In a separate move, California filed a lawsuit with a federal court last week to stop the tariffs.