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Donald Trump

My New Dispatch Article on the Legal Case Against Trump's Section 338 Tariffs Targeting Canadian Imports

It explains why the Section 338 tariffs are illegal, and part of a broader pattern of tariff power grabs.

Ilya Somin | 11.2.2026 11:40 AM

Illustration: Midjourney

Today, The Dispatch published my new article on the case challenging Trump's Section 338 tariffs against Canada. Here is an excerpt:

Courts have already ruled against two avenues President Donald Trump used to impose his tariff regime. That hasn't stopped his efforts to attempt to deploy obscure or outdated trade law provisions to justify new import levies.

His latest tool is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, the notorious legislation that gravely exacerbated the Great Depression.

Section 338 of that law is the basis of Trump's massive 50 percent tariffs on a variety of Canadian imports, including motor vehicles, furniture, dairy products, and more. On October 20, Gellert Global Group Corp., a major food importer and producer based in New Jersey, filed the first lawsuit challenging those tariffs before the U.S. Court of International Trade, the federal court with jurisdiction over tariff cases.

Gellert, which imports Canadian cheese subject to the tariffs, is........

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