Dominic LeBlanc was at the kickoff of the Team Canada Trade Mission to Mexico in Mexico City on Monday.Henry Romero/Reuters
The Canadian government welcomed Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the legal justification for some of the tariffs Donald Trump has imposed on Canada and other countries.
The decision does not affect levies the U.S. President imposed on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos.
The Supreme Court decision focuses on duties that were imposed using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. These include “fentanyl tariffs” imposed on Canada, Mexico and China, and the “Liberation Day” or “reciprocal” tariffs placed on the rest of the world.
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The President reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision by announcing he would impose a new 10-per-cent global tariff using a different piece of legislation. (Canada will retain a key exemption that allows the vast majority of goods to enter the United States tariff-free.) Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 lets the President impose tariffs of up to 15 per cent for 150 days. The tariffs expire after that point, unless Congress votes to extend them.
Mr. Trump said he would also ramp up the use of sectoral tariffs, which are imposed using Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The U.S. Department of Commerce has already launched a number of additional Section 232 investigations into various industries, including aircraft, critical minerals and pharmaceuticals.
Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for North American trade, said the Friday decision buttresses Canada’s arguments against the levies.
“The United States Supreme Court’s decision reinforces Canada’s position that the IEEPA tariffs imposed by the United States are unjustified,” Mr. LeBlanc said in a statement.
The minister said Canada is committed to supporting sectors that were not part of Friday’s ruling.
“While Canada has the best trade deal with the United States of any trading partner, we recognize that critical work lies ahead to support Canadian businesses and workers who remain affected by Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and automotive sectors,” Mr. LeBlanc said.
Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are undertaking a review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement this year. Each party is supposed to signal by July 1 whether they intend to renew the trade deal for another 16 years.
Mr. Trump said Canada is already anticipating that, with the IEEPA tariffs off, the White House will choose to replace them with something harsher. The President said a Canadian communicated this to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
“Canada said, ‘I hope you win this decision, because if you don’t win, you’ll actually be allowed to charge us, with a little additional work, higher tariffs,’” he said. Mr. Trump did not say who specifically from Canada had said this, when they said it or which specific additional tariffs they were concerned he would now impose.
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The President also reiterated his assertion that his tariffs are meant to cause auto plants to shut down in Canada and other countries and move to the U.S. instead.
Tariffs, he said, would mean “car plants coming in from Canada, who ripped us off for 30 per cent of our market.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the Supreme Court decision “another important victory in the fight against President Trump’s tariffs” but cautioned “the battle isn’t over yet.”
He said the tariffs not covered in this ruling are still hurting Canadians.
“We need to keep up the fight against tariffs on auto, steel, aluminum and forestry, which remain in place and continue to hurt our workers,” Mr. Ford said in a statement.
Since taking office in early 2025, Mr. Trump has imposed a slew of tariffs on Canada. While products traded under USMCA rules are exempt, that hasn’t shielded steel, aluminum and autos from damaging levies.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the ruling “a step in the right direction.”
He said during the USMCA review, Conservatives expect that tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos, as well as levies on lumber, will be lifted.
“Anything less than this means our workers will continue to suffer. Prime Minister Carney promised to negotiate a win and get a deal by July 21 of last year. U.S. tariffs on Canada have gotten worse,” Mr. Poilievre said in a statement.
He said Conservatives “stand ready to work with the government during this critical period in the interest of Canada.”
On the heels of his Supreme Court defeat, U.S. President Donald Trump said he'll sign an executive order that would impose a 10-per-cent global tariff under federal law known as Section 122. The president also said he is exploring other tariffs through other avenues.
The Associated Press
B.C. Premier David Eby said the decision, along with the recent vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to revoke tariffs on Canada, sends the message “there may be a thawing” in some of the challenges the country has faced.
“I take some heart in the fact that the Supreme Court was willing to draw a line around the President’s authority,” he said.
But he warned it would have little meaningful impact on his provinces in the near term, because the U.S. levies affecting lumber and manufactured wood products are still in place.
Mr. Eby said he hopes the decision could also influence discussions around the upcoming review of the USMCA, and that he believes tariffs will be an issue in the fall midterm elections.
The Saskatchewan government welcomed the ruling.
“This ruling does not remove all the U.S. tariffs and the U.S. administration may be evaluating other mechanisms to reimpose some or all of these tariffs,” Jill McAlister-Lane, a spokesperson for Premier Scott Moe, said in a statement.
“Saskatchewan will continue our efforts to diversify our export markets to countries all over the world and to convince U.S. lawmakers that free and fair trade between Canada and the U.S. benefits businesses and consumers in both countries.”
With reports from Mark Rendell and Jeff Gray