Food Importer Sues President Trump Over 50% Tariffs on Canadian Imports

New Jersey-based food importer Gellert Global Group has launched a legal challenge in the U.S. Court of International Trade against President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on Canadian imports, arguing the administration lacks the legal authority to enact sweeping trade duties without congressional authorization.

The lawsuit, filed in New York by the public-interest legal organization Liberty Justice Center, targets the White House's use of Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. The administration invoked the Depression-era statute, which allows duties up to 50% on nations deemed to discriminate against U.S. commerce, following the breakdown of bilateral trade negotiations in August. The tariffs impact roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods, including dairy products, wine, clothing, furniture, and hockey sticks.

Gellert Global Group, a third-generation family business that imports Canadian cheese, reported paying over $520,000 in tariff duties between mid-September and early October. The firm also faces retaliatory tariffs imposed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who matched the U.S. levies "dollar for dollar" after President Trump cited discriminatory treatment regarding American automobiles, alcohol, and dairy products.

Co-Chief Executive Thomas Gellert commented on the operational disruption:

"Gellert Global Group has spent generations building trusted relationships with suppliers, customers and partners across the food industry. These tariffs disrupt those relationships overnight and create costs and uncertainty that ripple through the entire supply chain."

The complaint argues that Section 338 of the 1930 act has been superseded by subsequent trade legislation, such as Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which mandates formal investigations, public comment periods, and statutory safeguards.

Legal representatives from the Liberty Justice Center emphasized that the lawsuit focuses on the separation of powers and statutory limits:

"No president should have the power to pull a dormant statute off the shelf and use it to impose sweeping tariffs or import bans without the limits Congress required."

Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel and director of litigation at the Liberty Justice Center, added:

“The administration cannot skip those protections by reaching for a 1930 statute that no president had ever used to impose a tariff.”

The lawsuit further contends that the administration failed to observe procedural requirements within Section 338 itself, which prescribes a 30-day waiting period prior to duty collection. According to the filing, Canadian cheese was added to the taxable schedule only seven days before tariff collection began.

The lawsuit asks the Court of International Trade to declare the tariffs illegal, issue an injunction against further collection, and order full refunds with interest for affected U.S. importers.

This action marks the fourth major trade lawsuit brought by the Liberty Justice Center against administration tariffs. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated duties previously enacted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), while a separate trade court ruling subsequently struck down a temporary 10% global tariff.