U.S. food importer Gellert Global Group Corp. sued the Trump administration over 50% tariffs on selected Canadian goods, challenging the president’s legal authority and the speed at which duties on its cheese imports began.
Gellert filed the case Oct. 20 in the U.S. Court of International Trade. It seeks to stop collection, recover duties with interest and represent a proposed class of importers of covered Canadian products.
According to the complaint, Gellert paid at least $520,538 in duties on 22 cheese entries from Sept. 16 through Oct. 11. More than $381,000 of that amount, the company says, came from entries made before Oct. 8, the period covered by its separate claim that the tariffs began too soon.
That claim centers on Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The statute allows duties of up to 50% in specified cases of discrimination against U.S. commerce and permits them to take effect no earlier than 30 days after the proclamation. The White House added cheeses imported by Gellert on Sept. 8 but started collecting the duties Sept. 15, seven days later. Gellert says the 30-day provision applies to the additions; the court has not decided that question.
Gellert also argues that Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 limits the president’s use of Section 338 and that the administration has not shown the Canadian measures meet the older statute’s legal test.
Three White House proclamations in July imposed the 50% duty on listed Canadian products in response to measures the administration said harmed U.S. dairy, alcohol and vehicle exporters. After a brief postponement, the initial duties took effect Aug. 22. The September changes added products, including the cheeses Gellert imports, to the lists associated with alcohol and motor vehicles.
The White House has presented the duties as a response to policies it says disadvantage U.S. producers. Gellert estimates the tariffs would cost it $40 million annually at the current rate. The company says it is absorbing the charges through the end of 2026 but would raise prices if they remain in place. Canada says new countermeasures on U.S. products took effect Sept. 8.
The lawsuit follows a Feb. 20 Supreme Court decision that a different law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, did not authorize Trump’s earlier tariffs. That ruling did not address the Section 338 duties at issue here. Gellert’s case remains pending.
