A new lawsuit filed on Tuesday has challenged US President Donald Trump’s use of a decades-old law to impose 50 per cent tariffs on a range of Canadian goods.
In July, Trump invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose the steep duties on Canadian products, including hockey sticks, wine, honey and wigs, citing alleged trade discrimination by Ottawa.
The move marked the first time the 96-year-old law had been used to impose tariffs.
“Section 338 is a relic of the retaliation-based tariff policy” that has been “impliedly repealed” by subsequent legislation, the civil complaint filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade says.
The lawsuit was filed by New Jersey-based food importer Gellert Global Group, which says its cheeses are subject to the tariffs.
The company is asking the court to declare the tariffs unlawful, stop their enforcement and direct the Trump administration to refund duties already paid, including interest.
Gellert Global is represented by the Liberty Justice Center, the same legal organisation that successfully challenged Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, dealing a major setback to his trade agenda.
The US Supreme Court struck down the tariffs in February, prompting the administration to begin refunding an estimated $166bn collected from importers through the duties.
The Liberty Justice Center is also pursuing two other lawsuits challenging what it describes as Trump’s misuse of existing laws to impose broad tariffs.
