US food importer Gellert Global Group sued in the US Court of International Trade to stop 50% tariffs on Canadian imports. The suit argues the tariffs, imposed under a 1930 law with no known earlier use, are another attempt to claim presidential tariff power. It is the fourth court challenge to a wide-ranging tariff policy.
Gellert Global Group sued on Tuesday to stop the Trump administration's latest tariffs on imports from Canada. The importer says the duties represent another attempt to claim an unfettered presidential tariff power that courts have roundly rejected.
Section 338 tariffs hit a wide range of Canadian goods
President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on a wide range of Canadian imports over the summer. His administration cited what it called Canada's discriminatory treatment of US-made cars, alcohol and dairy goods.
Trump invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, the law's first known usage in nearly a century of existence. The tariffs target wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods and hockey equipment.
The lawsuit challenges shifting legal rationales
The Liberty Justice Center, a legal nonprofit, filed the suit on behalf of Gellert. It says Trump has used shifting legal rationales and rarely used laws to claim tariff power that the US Constitution assigns to Congress. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gellert is a New Jersey-based food importer with $1.7 billion in annual revenue. It imports Canadian cheeses subject to the 50% tariff and seeks to represent a class of businesses similarly affected.
The suit also argues that later tariff laws have overwritten Section 338, including the Trade Act that Trump used to impose the forced labor tariffs earlier in 2026. According to the suit, every statute that authorizes a president to impose tariffs does so with strict limitations that the administration has repeatedly ignored.
Earlier rulings against the administration
The US Supreme Court ruled in February against most of the tariffs Trump imposed in 2025. The administration has since continued to issue wide-ranging tariffs, and US states and businesses have challenged them.
Meanwhile, the trade court previously ruled against a temporary 10% global tariff imposed after the Supreme Court loss. It is now weighing the legality of a third round of global tariffs, imposed in a purported effort to combat forced labor in international trade.
Source: Investing.com (Reuters)
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