Windsor's mayor says had the Supreme Court not struck down the tariffs, it would've been an affront to the rule of law in the United States.
Drew Dilkens says it would have been mindless, given the impact the levies have had on American businesses.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's use of an emergency law to deploy tariffs.
Trump had used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for his so-called "Liberation Day'' levies and fentanyl-related duties on Canada, Mexico and China.
This ruling deals with the 35 per cent levies imposed on goods not covered under the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement, but the ruling does not affect sector-specific tariffs imposed on metals, lumber and automobiles.
Dilkens says he's glad to see it but says there should be caution.
"Had the Supreme Court let that decision move forward and not sanction or put a guardrail in place, it would had been such an affront to the rule of law in the United States," says Dilkens. "It would had been almost mindless and senseless to see that guardrail not put up by the Supreme Court today. So I'm glad to see it, but with President Trump, you would expect some sort of equal and opposite reaction on his end."
He says the levies have proven expensive for businesses on the American side of the border.
"The pressure is building," says Dilkens. "There's certainly a lot of, I would say, pressure on our side to get a renegotiated USMCA deal, but I think in the US, it's a sensible option as well too because they don't want to pass along more cost to US consumers at a time where affordability is top of mind for people across our continent."
He adds that he's confident there's behind the scenes work being done to help Canadian businesses.
"They got to figure out how to get billions of dollars back to Canada, which is good because there are businesses here who had to front those tariffs in order to continue to sell into their largest market," says Dilkens. "What that means is there's been pressure put on people who work here; business owners had to make tough decisions, which affects the lives of people in our community, and so the sooner we find a resolution, the better," says Dilkens.
He says the sooner there's a pathway forward, the better.
"We are a border city, and we always knew we would always get hit first and hit the hardest, especially in the auto industry, and so the sooner there's a pathway found that puts all of these matters behind us and allows us to continue any free trade environment that we have created that has been to the benefit of Mexico, Canada, and the United States, the better it is for all of us and get past the nonsense in this trade war that the president has launched against his largest trading partner, that being Canada."
U.S. President Donald Trump says he will sign an executive order to impose a 10 per cent global tariff after the Supreme Court struck down his use of an emergency legal tool to realign global trade.
Trump says he will use the Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act to hit the world with the tariffs - but that duty can only stay in place for 150 days, unless Congress votes to extend it.