{"id":398420,"date":"2026-01-09T14:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T14:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/398420\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T14:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T14:01:13","slug":"how-u-s-supreme-court-ruling-affects-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/398420\/","title":{"rendered":"How U.S. Supreme Court ruling affects Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadian trade experts are anxiously awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s global tariffs, which could come as soon as Friday, saying the decision could trigger an arduous refund process. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Supreme Court strikes it down, it really does send a big message to the U.S. administration and to President Trump, that these tariffs, really were not permissible,\u201d said William Pellerin, an international trade lawyer at McMillan LLP. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd hopefully, (it) will give the U.S. administration pause on increasing those tariffs or changing those tariffs, as we\u2019ve seen throughout 2025.\u201d <\/p>\n

The top court south of the border has scheduled Friday as an opinion day, meaning it will be the first chance for a ruling to be issued in the case, though as is established practice, the Supreme Court has not said what case, or cases, could be ruled on tomorrow. <\/p>\n

\"\"The U.S. Supreme Court The U.S. Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite) <\/p>\n

The ruling will be on the legality of Trump\u2019s sweeping international imposition of tariffs without congressional approval, levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Dating back to 1977, the law historically has been used to impose sanctions or freeze the assets of adversaries. <\/p>\n

If the court rules against the Trump administration\u2019s use of emergency tariff powers, the duties applied under this law would be lifted. <\/p>\n

For Canada, that means the tariffs imposed on this country early in the trade war, which the Trump administration claimed<\/a> was over the flow of drugs and migrants across the border, would be eliminated.<\/p>\n

Though most goods traded between the two countries are compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), so experts say this move would mainly benefit the sectors who aren\u2019t covered under that tariff protection. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t include things like steel and aluminum that are covered under Section 232,\u201d said Randall Bartlett, deputy chief economist with Desjardins. \u201cThe impact will be, I think, unambiguously positive for the Canadian economy, but it\u2019s not really clear that it\u2019s going to have any substantive magnitude of an impact.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pellerin also cautioned that the U.S. still has \u201ca number of other tools\u201d that remain untested, which Trump could look to to maintain his tariff regime. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are going to see a continued use of tariffs, and that\u2019s unfortunate,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"\"Employees work on the production line at the Martinrea auto parts manufacturing plant in Woodbridge, Ontario on Feb. 3, 2025. The site supplies auto parts to both the Canadian and U.S. auto plants. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Chris Young Employees work on the production line at the Martinrea auto parts manufacturing plant in Woodbridge, Ontario on Feb. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Chris Young \u2018Nightmare\u2019 to recoup tariffs paid <\/p>\n

If the Supreme Court strikes down Trump\u2019s IEEPA tariffs, all the experts CTV News spoke with cautioned that it would also mean the start of a potentially challenging fight for the U.S. government to issue what Reuters estimates could potentially be US$150 billion in refunds to countries worldwide. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be an administrative nightmare as well, because you\u2019ll see manufacturers, retailers, and consumers all saying: \u2018these were collected illegally, I should see some money back,\u2019\u201d said Adam Taylor of NorthStar Public Affairs. <\/p>\n

Though experts said it\u2019s unlikely consumers will ultimately see any costs recouped. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unlikely to happen to be honest,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThe best-case scenario would be that those who have paid it, the manufacturers, would see some money back. But unfortunately, it\u2019s going to be very difficult.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pellerin added that despite some ongoing modernizations to refund request mechanisms south of the border, the U.S. system remains \u201cquite archaic.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re in for a very messy time in terms of what will happen at the border with the tariffs that companies have paid, and whether or not people will be able to get their tariff refunds back,\u201d Pellerin said. <\/p>\n

\"\"U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci) U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci) Trump \u2018prays\u2019 court rules in favour<\/p>\n

Trump has been keeping a close eye on the top court\u2019s decision, posting on Truth Social on Tuesday<\/a>: \u201cPRAY THAT THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT ALLOWS OUR COUNTRY TO CONTINUE ITS UNPRECEDENTED MARCH TOWARD UNPARALLELED GREATNESS!\u201d <\/p>\n

In the post, Trump attributed the American markets hitting an all-time high to tariffs. <\/p>\n

\"\"Donald Trump Truth Social <\/p>\n

Speculation over how the court may rule comes after justices on both sides of the political spectrum expressed doubt during hearings late last year about whether the president had the authority under the law to levy these tariffs. <\/p>\n

If the court rules in Trump\u2019s favour, Taylor said it would \u201cembolden\u201d his administration to use this legal basis to levy more duties. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can use IEEPA to raise tariffs, then you can presumably use IEEPA to impose all sorts of taxes,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s going to be a very, very groundbreaking development.\u201d <\/p>\n

U.S. exports falling: StatCan<\/p>\n

Anticipation over the ruling is building, just as Canada\u2019s share of exports to the U.S. fell to its lowest-ever level<\/a> outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

According to Statistics Canada, exports to the U.S. dropped 4.1 per cent in October, while exports to non-U.S. nations rose by 15.6 per cent, a record high. <\/p>\n

Economists say while this activity was largely concentrated on certain goods, such as gold, this shows how Canadian companies are starting to look beyond their historically largest trading partner, to new markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always too simplistic to look at a single monthly trade stat and try to develop a trend. But obviously, the trend does show that as long as there\u2019s barriers to trade \u2026 trade will fall over time,\u201d Taylor said. <\/p>\n

\"\"Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc speaks with reporters at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Adrian Wyld Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc speaks with reporters at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Adrian Wyld CUSMA review starting soon <\/p>\n

In mid-January, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be in the U.S. Capitol to begin formal discussions with his American counterparts about the review of the trilateral free trade deal between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. <\/p>\n

In a statement sent to CTV News on a not-for-attribution basis, LeBlanc\u2019s office said that with respect to the case before the Supreme Court, Canada will \u201clet the judicial process follow its course.\u201d <\/p>\n

The official also said that: \u201cIn the meantime, Canada will continue its preparations ahead of the review of the CUSMA, which is scheduled for this year.\u201d <\/p>\n

The federal government wouldn\u2019t specifically say whether any Canadian officials plan to be in D.C. for the potential ruling. <\/p>\n

Asked whether Mark Wiseman, Canada\u2019s ambassador-designate to the U.S., is already in Washington ahead of talks ramping up in the coming weeks, LeBlanc\u2019s office said Canada\u2019s outgoing ambassador, Kirsten Hillman, and her staff \u201cwill continue to monitor developments.\u201d<\/p>\n

With files from CTV News\u2019 Abigial Bimman and Reuters <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canadian trade experts are anxiously awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of U.S. President Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-398420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}