U.S. supreme court tariff ruling brings more uncertainty for Manitoba businesses

There’s uncertainty ahead for Manitoba businesses following the latest developments of United States President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a set of Trump’s tariffs in a landmark ruling Friday, but that decision didn’t affect all duties on Canadian goods entering the U.S.

Trump on Friday signed an executive order imposing a 10 per cent global tariff, effective Tuesday. On Saturday, he threatened on social media that he would increase it to 15 per cent.

Chuck Davidson, president and CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, said he was pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision but troubled by Trump’s reaction.

“(The ruling) basically solidified what we’d been saying for the past year — that the tariff policy that the U.S. government was going on was unjustified,” Davidson said. “Unfortunately, our concern is (that the ruling) doesn’t actually mean much with the president.”

Trump’s 10 per cent global tariff was “almost to be expected,” added the leader of Manitoba’s largest chamber network.

“He’s very clearly indicated that tariffs are the path that he’s going to go down and (that) it’s going to be difficult to trade with the United States, which is what we’ve seen. And again, the message that we’ve continued to spread is that the United States has become a very unreliable trading partner.”

A problem with the trading relationship between Canada and the U.S. is that it continually changes, Davidson said.

“It was 10 per cent, today it’s 15 per cent,” he said. “Who knows what it’s going to be next week and how long this is going to continue. And it just makes it more challenging for businesses.”

Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said he had mixed reactions to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“It creates a new round of uncertainty and confusion,” he said, alluding to the U.S. president’s response.

“We now find ourselves back in those early days of the Trump presidency where you didn’t know which tariffs were going to come into effect, what the rates were going to be. This just creates a new level of complexity (and) uncertainty for businesses trying to navigate an already uncertain world.”

At the same time, Remillard is pleased that goods compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement will not be subject to Trump’s 10 per cent import duty.

“That gives us hope that this administration still understands the value and the importance of CUSMA — primarily to their own economic interest, but as well to the continental economic environment,” he said.

Remillard said he’s spoken with a number of the Winnipeg chamber’s members in recent months who say they’ve settled into a sense that “uncertainty is the new certainty.”

“That’s not to discount the real, tangible impacts on those sectors that are being specifically targeted, like steel, aluminum (and) automobile manufacturing… There’s still some very hard and real impacts from the tariffs. However, I think now that we’re a year into it, people have found their way to navigate these waters.”

The waters have been especially rough for Imperial Steel, a Winnipeg company that manufactures steel tubing, and it looks like they’ll remain rough.

U.S. tariffs targeting Canadian goods such as steel, aluminum, copper, autos and lumber, which are imposed under a separate authority unaffected by the Supreme Court’s ruling, remain active.

Imperial Steel exported 70 per cent of its products to the U.S. in 2024. The company’s sales were down 60 per cent in 2025, said Richard Bobrowski, Imperial Steel owner. He attributes about two-thirds of that decline to Trump’s tariffs.

The company hasn’t laid off staff, but the drop in business has gotten in the way of growth the company was anticipating at the end of 2024.

“We were looking at buying another building and expanding somewhere in Manitoba just to keep up with orders,” Bobrowski said. “That’s not only disappeared but swung the other direction.”

Imperial Steel has traditionally done business in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. It’s now looking to other countries to do business, Bobrowski said.

“We’re looking into expanding into different markets, trying to follow the trend set by the Canadian government… But it is not a replacement (for the U.S.). It is just diversification.”

— with files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca