San Fancisco, April 24 -- A coalition of 12 U.S. states sued U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday over "illegal tariffs" in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York.

Attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Vermont filed the lawsuit to seek a court order to block the Trump administration from enacting the tariffs.

The lawsuit said the policy has left the national trade policy subject to Trump's "whims rather than the sound exercise of lawful authority," asking the court to declare the tariffs illegal and to block government agencies and officers from enforcing them.

It noted the U.S. president can only invoke the em...