A legal challenge has been mounted against White House tariffs on Canadian goods after the group that won a previous case against import duties filed a new lawsuit. The Liberty Justice Center filed suit on behalf of Gellert Global Group, a New Jersey-based food business, urging the US Court of International Trade to declare a 50% levy on some $20bn of Canadian goods unlawful and to order refunds with interest for affected importers. The tariffs were imposed after trade talks between the US and Canada broke down in August.
Gellert Global Group, a third-generation family business, is paying 50% tariffs on cheese exported from Canada whilst also facing retaliatory duties from Canada on American-made cheese it sells north of the border. Co-chief executive Thomas Gellert said the tariffs disrupted relationships built over generations with suppliers and customers. "These tariffs disrupt those relationships overnight and create costs and uncertainty that ripple through the entire supply chain," he said on Tuesday.
The Liberty Justice Center is challenging the White House's use of Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act to impose duties on goods ranging from wine to dairy products and hockey sticks. The legal group argues that although this section was designed to protect US businesses against foreign discrimination, it does not permit the executive branch to "impose sweeping tariffs or import restrictions whenever a trade dispute arises". The lawsuit highlights that Section 338 requires a 30-day waiting period before levies can be imposed, yet the tariff on cheese was added to the list just a week before collection began.
The lawsuit also notes that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney matched the Section 338 US tariffs "dollar for dollar" after Trump imposed them for what he called "unequal treatment" of US cars, dairy and alcohol. The Liberty Justice Center argues that Section 338 has been superseded by Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Sara Albrecht, chief executive of the Liberty Justice Center, said the case concerned constitutional authority rather than tariffs themselves. "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," she said.
The group has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to block tariff collection. This is the fourth case brought by the Liberty Justice Center against Trump's tariffs, following its successful challenge in February this year against sweeping import duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Albrecht emphasised that all cases reflected the same principle: "the Constitution gives tariff power to Congress. The executive branch cannot keep moving the same policy from one statute to another and pretend the limits disappear".
For US food importers and businesses relying on Canadian supplies, the tariffs increase immediate costs and create uncertainty about whether duties will remain in place pending the court's decision.