90% of Tariff Costs Hit American Consumers & Kris Mayes Says Enough Is Enough

Attorney General Kris Mayes (D-AZ) is once again taking the Trump administration to task over tariffs by joining a 21-state coalition urging federal trade officials to abandon what she calls an illegal third attempt to impose broad import taxes on American consumers.

The coalition, led by Mayes alongside the attorneys general of Oregon and California, submitted a formal comment letter to the United States Trade Representative pushing back on the latest proposed tariffs targeting the European Union and 59 other countries.

The letter argues the proposal is unlawful, exceeds the authority Congress granted to the USTR, and lacks sufficient evidence to justify the action.

"For more than a year, Donald Trump has ignored the courts and the Constitution to unlawfully tax American families and businesses," Mayes said. "Arizonans are done paying the price for this administration's lawlessness, and I will keep fighting to stop it."

Broad Tariffs

The backstory matters here: the Trump administration's first attempt to impose broad tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act was struck down by the Supreme Court in February.

A second attempt using a separate and previously untested trade law was successfully challenged by Arizona and 23 other states and struck down by the Court of International Trade in May.

The administration has directed the USTR to investigate whether 60 trading partners are doing enough to combat forced labor in global supply chains, a process that concluded with recommended tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent on those same countries, covering roughly 99% of all U.S. imports.

Critics say the forced labor justification is a pretext, pointing out that the new tariffs mirror the previous ones almost exactly, with the same exceptions and no clear explanation of how the rates were determined.

The financial stakes for American consumers are significant, with research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finding that nearly 90 percent of the cost of tariffs imposed in 2025 was absorbed by U.S. businesses and consumers rather than by foreign exporters, leading to higher prices at the checkout counter for everyday Americans.

The 22-state coalition is asking trade officials to change course before the latest round of tariffs takes effect.