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B.C. Premier David Eby reacted with a smug jab Friday morning after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Good morning everybody and happy liberation day,” Eby said with a straight face, using the president’s own words against him while addressing the Vancouver Board of Trade.
Then, with a chuckle, he added: “We’ll see, right?”
Soon after, Trump himself responded publicly to the ruling, announcing in a news conference he would be introducing a new 150-day, 10 per cent global tariff effective Monday.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling was made against the global tariffs Trump imposed on all imports on April 2, 2025, a day he dubbed “Liberation Day.” It found Trump had overstepped his authority by invoking emergency presidential powers to bring the new levies into effect.
Earlier Friday, ahead of Trump’s announcement, Eby said he was “relieved” by the decision.
“While it doesn’t address the challenges in our softwood sector, it does potentially address some of the serious concerns we have about our relationship with the United States,” the premier said from the podium.
B.C. timber companies have been facing escalating U.S. duties on softwood lumber imports, and are currently taxed at 45 per cent.
“Fingers crossed this heads in a positive direction because I know a number of you would also like to be able to purchase American liquor some day,” Eby said, referring to the ban on U.S. alcohol at provincial liquor stores imposed last year in response to Trump’s tariffs.
“Or maybe not,” he said, invoking the hesitancy many British Columbians feel about the United States.
In 2025, for example, vehicle travel to the U.S. from B.C. declined 35 per cent.
New tariffs
Trump responded angrily to the Supreme Court ruling. During his news conference on Friday, he called the court decision “terrible” and “unpatriotic,” and said the justices who ruled against him were “disloyal to our nation.”
His new 10 per cent tariff can only be imposed for 150 days, at which point it can only be extended by congressional approval.
For Canada, it’s unclear whether goods that are compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) will be exempt.
Amid the global economic uncertainty caused in part by Trump’s tariffs, Canada’s economy, at the federal and provincial levels, has suffered.
On Tuesday, B.C. announced a projected $13-billion deficit for the year, along with a plan to cut 15,000 public service jobs and raise taxes.