President Trump invoked Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act to impose a 50% tax on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, prompting dollar-for-dollar retaliation from Ottawa. This Depression-era provision had never been used by any president before and has never been tested in court. Legal experts argue the statute was rendered obsolete by more recent trade laws and that the Trump administration made no attempt to calculate the actual harm caused by Canadian trade practices. The U.S. also targeted Canadian products unrelated to the original disputes, including hockey sticks and cement. No lawsuits have been filed against these tariffs, which remain relatively small compared to Trump’s other worldwide duties.
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