California filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to enact broad-sweeping tariffs, arguing the levies on imports hurt states, consumers and businesses.

The lawsuit contends the president lacks the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs through the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, creating immediate and irreparable harm to California, the nation’s largest economy, manufacturing and agriculture state, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said.

“President Trump’s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California families, businesses, and our economy — driving up prices and threatening jobs,” Newsom said in a statement Wednesday. “We’re standing up for American families who can’t afford to let the chaos continue.”

The White House has said Trump’s tariffs and trade policies are aimed at addressing “the large and persistent trade deficit that is driven by the absence of reciprocity in our trade relationships and other harmful policies like currency manipulation and exorbitant value-added taxes (VAT) perpetuated by other countries.”

A White House official Wednesday responded to the lawsuit saying the governor should focus on fixing California’s problems.

“Instead of focusing on California’s rampant crime, homelessness, and unaffordability, Gavin Newsom is spending his time trying to block President Trump’s historic efforts to finally address the national emergency of our country’s persistent goods trade deficits,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said. “The entire Trump administration remains committed to addressing this national emergency that’s decimating America’s industries and leaving our workers behind with every tool at our disposal, from tariffs to negotiations.”

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, asks the court “to immediately enjoin the tariffs imposed by President Trump.” It lists the state and Newsom as plaintiffs and Trump and members of his administration as respondents.“The President’s chaotic and haphazard implementation of tariffs is not only deeply troubling, it’s illegal,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “As the fifth largest economy in the world, California understands global trade policy is not just a game. Californians are bracing for fallout from the impact of the President’s choices — from farmers in the Central Valley, to small businesses in Sacramento, and worried families at the kitchen table — this game the president is playing has very real consequences for Californians across our state.

Newsom had earlier announced he would seek deals with other countries with which California trades to avoid impacts from the federal tariffs, though experts questioned the extent to which such an effort can succeed.

Economists say the flurry of tariffs announced so far by the Trump administration will drive up the costs of California imports and exports with the Golden State’s top trading partners, including China, which faces a 145% tax on imports to the U.S. and has responded with its own 125% tariff on American goods.

The Trump administration has also targeted automobiles and car parts, a key trade good between Mexico and Canada, and hit the countries with an additional 25% tariff which it said was aimed at curbing fentanyl trafficking.

However, Trump administration officials announced last week that electronics such as phones, chips and computers are temporarily exempt from tariffs. California imported nearly $153 billion of computer and electronics products last year — the top good entering the state from abroad.

The lawsuit is just the latest filed by Bonta, a Democrat. Earlier this year, Democrats in the Legislature passed and Newsom signed an additional $25 million for Bonta’s Department of Justice to challenge Trump administration policies in court. Bonta has since sued the federal government a dozen times, including over Trump’s plans to exempt people born on U.S. soil from receiving birthright citizenship, freeze federal grants and curb billions of dollars in federal research spending.

Newsom and Bonta announced the lawsuit at a Central Valley orchard to draw attention to the potential impact of the tariffs on the state’s agriculture businesses. They said the tariffs will have an outsized impact on California businesses, including its more than 60,000 small business exporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.