US Food Importer Sues Trump Over 50% Tariffs on Canadian Goods
New Jersey cheese importer Gellert Global Group filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court challenging President Trump's unprecedented use of a 1930 Depression-era statute to impose 50% tariffs on a wide range of Canadian imports.
Gellert Global Group, a New Jersey-based importer of Canadian cheese and other food products, filed the fourth major legal challenge to the Trump administration's sweeping tariff policy on Tuesday, October 20, targeting the 50% duties the president levied on Canadian goods via Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. The suit, filed in the US Court of International Trade in New York by the non-profit Liberty Justice Center, argues that Trump exceeded his constitutional authority by invoking a provision of a 96-year-old law that no president had ever previously used. The challenged tariffs, introduced in August 2026 under Section 338, affect a broad array of Canadian imports: wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods and hockey equipment. Between September 16 and October 11, Gellert paid more than $520,000 in import duties. The company additionally argues that the administration violated procedural safeguards, waiting only seven days before collecting tariffs on cheese instead of the legally required 30 days. Gellert is seeking a court declaration that the tariffs are illegal, an injunction halting further collections, and a refund with interest of all duties already paid.
