Food Importers Sue Trump Over 50% Tariffs on Canada
nashnova research
New Jersey food importer Gellert Global Group sued the Trump administration to block 50% tariffs on Canadian goods imposed under a nearly century-old law never before used to levy duties — and to recover tariffs already paid.
Who is suing whom, and over what?
Gellert Global Group, a New Jersey food importer, filed suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade. It wants the tariffs declared illegal, enforcement halted, and all duties plus interest refunded.
At issue are 50% tariffs imposed in July on Canadian hockey sticks, wine, honey, wigs, cheese, and other goods.
This means → the case directly challenges whether the president has the legal authority to use this statute to raise tariffs at all.
Why is the underlying law controversial?
The administration invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 — a law nearly a century old that had never before been used to impose tariffs.
The complaint argues Section 338 is a "retaliatory tariff-policy relic" that has been implicitly repealed by later legislation. In plain terms = the plaintiff says the law expired long ago, and pulling it off the shelf is itself illegal.
This reflects a broader dispute: can a president bypass Congress by reaching for obscure, dormant statutes to expand tariff power?
What track record does the legal team behind this have?
The case is brought by the Liberty Justice Center, the same group that successfully challenged the Trump administration's "reciprocal tariffs."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled those tariffs illegal in February; the federal government is now refunding an estimated $166 billion in duties already collected.
Liberty Justice Center has two additional lawsuits pending against the administration's use of statutory authority to impose tariffs. This means → a single organization is pressing the government's tariff legal space on multiple fronts simultaneously.
What deeper question does this lawsuit point to?
Liberty Justice Center CEO Sara Albrecht stated: "This case is not about any one president — it is about the limits of presidential power."
Her core argument: no president should have the power to pull a dormant statute off the shelf and impose sweeping tariffs or import bans outside the limits Congress has set.
The White House had not commented as of publication. This reflects a tightening pattern of judicial scrutiny over the administration's strategy of invoking obscure legal provisions to expand tariff authority.
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