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Trump Imposes Harmful and Illegal Section 338 Tariffs Against Many Canadian Imports

Section 338 is a long-defunct part of the notorious Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.

Ilya Somin | 8.23.2026 4:14 PM

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Yesterday, Donald Trump imposed massive 50% tariffs on numerous Canadian imports after trade negotiations with Canada broke down, largely due to the Trump administration's insistence on maintaining earlier 50% tariffs on Canadian aluminum products and other goods.

Section 338 was a part of the notorious Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which gravely exacerbated the Great Depression. In a previous post, I summarized the reasons why Section 338 tariffs are an illegal usurpation of congressional authority by the president.

As Philip Zelikow of the conservative Hoover Institution explained in a guest post here at the VC blog, last year, Section 338 was superseded by........

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