Ottawa business bracing for uncertainty after U.S Supreme Court ruling on tariffs

An Ottawa business says it’s encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down tariffs, but uncertainty remains. CTV’s Natalie van Rooy reports.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided to strike down many of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Friday, but Ottawa businesses affected by the tariffs say they are not in the clear yet.

An Ottawa manufacturer, Ambico, says it’s battling through a year of turbulence and preparing for anything. The company produces steel and wood doors. While the news of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down President Trump’s global tariffs seems positive, Judah Silverman of Ambico says there is still uncertainty over what comes next.

“Since March when the tariffs started, it’s cost us well into six figures,” said Silverman, chief administrative officer at Ambico.

Silverman says 2025 was the most challenging year in the company’s seventy-year history.

‘‘U.S. steel probably cost us about 25 per cent more than what we are paying in Canadian,” said Silverman. “Not just because of the exchange rate, but because it’s higher price is affecting us although it’s affecting us less than the value of the tariffs.”

While Ambico has absorbed the costs, the small business’s bottom line is still affected.

In a statement, the president of Canada’s largest private sector union warned against viewing the ruling as a victory.

“The risk to Canadian jobs remains severe with the potential to even increase if Trump looks for new ways to impose tariffs or target Canadian jobs and investment,” Lana Payne, Unifor National president, said in a statement.

Trump said he will impose an additional 10 per cent global tariffs on Friday following the Supereme Court’s ruling.

For Ambico’s Silverman, it’s a matter of taking it one day at a time.

“‘It means a lot of communication with our customers to tell them that we have their back as much as we can,” said Silverman.

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