Two citizens of the Blackfeet Nation on April 4 filed a lawsuit against the federal government, alleging tariffs the Trump administration is imposing on Canada violate the U.S. Constitution and tribal treaty rights.

State Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, and Jonathan St. Goddard, a rancher on the Blackfeet Reservation, named the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Kristi Noem and the United States of America in the suit, which was filed in Montana federal district court. The plaintiffs are represented by Monica Tranel, who ran as a Democrat for Montana’s western congressional seat in 2022 and 2024.  

The lawsuit — filed one day before thousands of people participated in nationwide protests against the Trump administration — is the latest example of tribes flexing their sovereign status to oppose new federal policy. It’s also one of several legal challenges related to President Donald Trump’s recent tariff orders. 

This lawsuit specifically pertains to several Executive Orders, including one Feb. 1 that expanded an emergency declaration to include “the flow of illicit drugs” across the U.S.-Canada border and one April 2 that announced global “reciprocal tariffs.” The lawsuit also regards two Feb. 10 proclamations that impose tariffs on steel and aluminum products.

Plaintiffs allege the orders violate the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress, not the president, the power to regulate commerce. Trump declared several national emergencies (due to U.S. trade deficits and to the flow of illegal drugs over the Northern border) and invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to issue tariffs. But the two Blackfeet citizens say the president had no legal basis to do so, arguing the IEEPA statute does not include the power to tariff. A legal group that lists conservative mogul Charles Koch among its supporters filed a similar lawsuit Thursday related to tariffs on China. Plaintiffs in that lawsuit allege that Trump’s use of the national emergency law is illegal. Trump is the first president to use the IEEPA to impose tariffs, according to Politico.

Complainants in the Montana case further allege the Canada tariffs violate the Jay Treaty, which was signed in 1794 by the U.S. and Great Britain to ease Revolutionary War tensions. While the treaty primarily focused on the two countries, it also recognized the rights of Native Americans to freely cross over the U.S.-Canada border. It also stipulated that American Indians were not to pay duties or taxes on their own goods when crossing the border. 

Plaintiffs further allege that orders imposing Canada tariffs are “unconstitutionally vague” and therefore violate their right to due process, the legal principle that requires the government to treat people fairly.

Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Montana Free Press.

Webber and St. Goddard in court documents allege the Blackfeet tribal community is uniquely harmed by the Canada tariffs. Located in northwest Montana, the Blackfeet Reservation spans about 1.5 million acres and is home to 10,309 people, 33% of whom live below poverty level. The Blackfeet Nation is one of four tribes belonging to the Blackfoot Confederacy. The other three Blackfoot tribes are headquartered across the U.S.-Canada border in Alberta. 

Per the Jay Treaty, it’s not uncommon for members of the Blackfoot Confederacy to cross the border not with a passport but with a tribal identification card. St. Goddard, according to court documents, drove to Saskatchewan to buy a replacement for a broken tractor part. On his way back to Montana, St. Goddard alleges he paid a $308.77 tariff for the new part, which originally cost $1,252.89. He alleged in court documents that tariffs caused him “financial stress” and future tariffs could cause “irreparable harm” to his business.

Webber in her declaration wrote that her constituents “cannot afford random, unpredictable tariffs.” 

“Because of the tariffs, members of the tribal community are losing economic opportunities and business,” she wrote. 

Webber and St. Goddard in the lawsuit asked the court to enjoin, or prohibit, Trump’s various orders implementing tariffs on Canada. Alternatively, they ask the court to stop tariffs on all commerce and goods at three ports of entry on the U.S.-Canada border or to exempt tribal members from the Canada tariffs. 

Native American tribes are sovereign entities and have a unique government-to-government relationship with the United States. A few months into Trump’s second term, several tribes have pushed back on his policies. 

On March 7, the Pueblo of Isleta (New Mexico), Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (Kansas), and Cheyenne Arapaho Tribes (Oklahoma) and several Indigenous students sued the U.S. Department of the Interior challenging mass firings at Bureau of Indian Education-run schools. Before a judge blocked Trump’s federal funding freeze, the Coalition of Large Tribes urged the federal government to exempt tribal programs, citing tribal sovereignty, treaty laws and the unique political relationship between tribes and the U.S. government. And Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in February rescinded the layoffs of 950 Indian Health Service employees, according to ICT News. 

Nora Mabie is the Indigenous affairs reporter at Montana Free Press, a nonprofit newsroom, and can be reached at [email protected].