In brief
A fresh lawsuit has been filed by the Liberty Justice Center against the Trump administration over the 50 % tariffs imposed on Canadian products. The legal action follows the administration’s use of Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act to justify these duties, a move the group argues oversteps executive power and harms U.S. businesses. The filing targets a $20 billion swing of duties on items ranging from cheese to hockey sticks, and seeks refunds, interest, and a preliminary injunction. This is the fourth case the group has brought against Trump’s trade measures, underscoring a broader battle over the limits of presidential tariff authority.
The United States is seeing its latest trade dispute enter the courtroom as the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit against the White House last week. The suit challenges the 50 % tariff imposed on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods after trade talks collapsed in August.
The government’s decision to slap the duties on items ranging from cheese to hockey sticks was justified under Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act, a statute the center says the executive branch has misused. The plaintiffs argue that the levies caused “immediate harm to American businesses” and that the president overstepped his authority.
Gellert Global Group, a New Jersey–based family firm that had built a cheese‑distribution network across Canada for decades, led the challenge. The group is now paying the 50 % duties on its Canadian imports, while also facing retaliatory tariffs from Canada on its own U.S. cheese exports.
Chief executive Thomas Gellert told reporters that the sudden tariffs disrupted long‑standing supply‑chain relationships and introduced costly uncertainty. “These tariffs disrupt those relationships overnight,” he said. “They create costs and uncertainty that ripple through the entire supply chain.”
The lawsuit also questions whether Section 338 remains applicable or has been superseded by Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. It further points out that the tariff on cheese was added to the list just a week before collections began, short of the 30‑day waiting period required by the statute.
Sara Albrecht, the organization’s chief executive, emphasised that the case is about presidential power, not the individual. “No president should have the power to pull a dormant statute off the shelf and impose sweeping tariffs or import bans without the limits Congress wrote,” she said.
The center has also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the tariff collection while the court considers the case. This new filing marks the fourth suit the group has brought against Trump’s trade measures—after previously successful challenges to the sweeping IEEA tariffs struck down in February.
Canada’s response has been a series of counter‑measures, with Prime Minister Mark Carney matching the U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar” on Canadian products. The ongoing legal battle underscores the broader U.S.–Canada trade war and raises questions about the scope of future executive tariff actions.
For more on the trade dispute, read our extended coverage.
