Cheese Importer Sues Trump Over 50% Canada Tariffs
The Facts
- New Jersey food importer Gellert Global Group sued the Trump administration Tuesday in the U.S. Court of International Trade, challenging 50% tariffs imposed on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930.
- The suit, brought by the nonprofit Liberty Justice Center, asks the court to declare the duties unlawful, halt their collection and order refunds with interest. The group also filed motions for a preliminary injunction and summary judgment.
- Gellert, which reports more than $1.7 billion in annual revenue, imported $71 million of Canadian cheese in 2025, including brie, camembert and mascarpone, and now faces a 50% duty it estimates at about $40 million a year.
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The Spin
Anti-Trump narrative
Section 338 sat unused since Smoot-Hawley for a reason — it targets specific foreign discrimination, not every trade spat. Congress already built the proper path with Section 301, with its investigations and public comment, and skipping those safeguards erases the limits lawmakers wrote. Meanwhile, family food importers and upstate New York dairy farmers absorb the damage.
Pro-Trump narrative
Blocking American wine off provincial shelves, rigging auto quotas to pull plants north and giving the EU better cheese access than the U.S. is textbook discrimination. Section 338 exists for exactly that unequal treatment, and leaving the statute dormant rewards every country that punishes American exporters. Walking away from a near-final deal and choosing retaliation earned a 50% answer.
