Trump sued over Canadian tariffs in latest legal challenge

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1. 1

   Trump sued over Canadian tariffs in latest legal challenge

   BBC NewsPublished Oct 20, 2026Checked Oct 20, 2026

   “US President Donald Trump is facing another legal challenge on tariffs after the group that successfully sued over his so-called "liberation day" import taxes filed a new lawsuit over the latest Canadian levies. The White House imposed a 50% levy on some $20bn of Canadian goods after trade talks between the US and Canada broke down in August. The Liberty Justice Center filed a suit on behalf of US food business Gellert Global Group, urging the US Court of International Trade to find the levies unlawful and to order refunds with interest for affected importers. The lawsuit argues the White House exceeded its authority in imposing the tariffs and caused "immediate harm to American businesses". Gellert Global Group is a third-generation family business that is paying 50% tariffs on cheese exported from Canada. The New Jersey-based firm is also facing retaliatory tariffs from Canada on American-made cheese it sells north of the border. Co-chief executive Thomas Gellert said the firm had spent generations building relationships with suppliers and customers in the food industry. "These tariffs disrupt those relationships overnight and create costs and uncertainty that ripple through the entire supply chain," he said on Tuesday. The Liberty Justice Center is challenging the administration's use of Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act to hit Canadian goods from wine to dairy products and hockey sticks.”

2. 2

   Tariffs in the second Trump administration (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaChecked Oct 20, 2026

   “During his second term as president of the United States, Donald Trump enacted a series of steep tariffs affecting nearly all goods imported into the country. From January to April 2025, the overall average effective US tariff rate rose from 2.5% to an estimated 27%—the highest level in over a century. After changes, negotiations, and the invalidation of certain tariffs by the Supreme Court of the United States, the overall average effective tariff rate was 12.1% as of July 21, 2026. The items most affected by the tariffs are metals, items mostly made of metal, and vehicles. Although the Constitution of the United States grants Congress the sole authority to levy taxes—including tariffs—since 1930, Congress has passed laws allowing the president to impose tariffs unilaterally for national security reasons. Under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, Trump raised tariffs on cars, steel, aluminum, copper, and related derivative products as high as 50%. New tariffs on large-scale batteries, cast iron and iron fittings, plastic piping, industrial chemicals and power grid and telecom equipment are under consideration.”

3. 3

   Trump tariffs and the U.S. defense industry.

   PloS one (Klomp)Published Jan 24, 2025Checked Oct 20, 2026

   “defense companies. As the defense industry stands among the largest metal consumers in the U.S., it is expected that these import restrictions have deteriorated the business performance of the U.S. defense industry. For this study, a novel trade uncertainty indicator has been constructed that is based on the key events related to the invocation of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. This section empowers the President to impose trade restrictions when the quantity of imports threatens to impair national security. My empirical analysis reveals that investors perceived the introduction of the steel and aluminum tariffs as detrimental to U.S. defense companies. The negative abnormal stock returns in the days around several key tariff-related events evidence this. Already in the period before the Department of Commerce released the findings of its investigation, investors were speculating on the possible introduction of trade barriers. However, the height of the imposed tariff exceeded their expectations since the negative sentiment was further reinforced after the official announcement of the tariff by President Trump.”

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   History of tariffs in the United States (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaChecked Oct 20, 2026

   “Tariffs have historically played a key role in the trade policy of the United States. Economic historian Douglas Irwin classifies U.S. tariff history into three periods: a revenue period (ca. 1790–1860), a restriction period (1861–1933) and a reciprocity period (from 1934 onwards). In the first period, from 1790 to 1860, average tariffs increased from 20 percent to 60 percent before declining again to 20 percent. From 1861 to 1933, which Irwin characterizes as the "restriction period", the average tariffs rose to 50 percent and remained at that level for several decades. From 1934 onwards, in the "reciprocity period", the average tariff declined substantially until it leveled off at 5 percent. Especially after 1942, the U.S. began to promote worldwide free trade. After the 2016 presidential election which saw the election of Donald Trump who campaigned on a protectionist and economic nationalist political platform, the US increased trade protectionism.”