Trade and tariff uncertainty

A U.S. court fight over President Donald Trump’s 10 per cent global tariff is leaving chip buyers and suppliers planning around rules that could change again. (ctvnews.ca) The U.S. Court of International Trade was set to hear arguments on the levy after several states and small businesses said the administration sidestepped a Supreme Court ruling that had already invalidated most earlier Trump tariffs. (ctvnews.ca) (cbc.ca) That legal fight sits on top of a policy that has already shifted repeatedly. In April 2025, the administration exempted smartphones, laptops, memory chips, hard drives and machines used to make semiconductors from its latest “reciprocal” tariffs. (cbc.ca) Semiconductors are the small processors and memory parts that run phones, servers, cars and factory gear. When tariffs hit the tools that make chips or the components that go into electronics, procurement teams have to recalculate prices, delivery routes and inventory buffers at the same time. (cbc.ca) The White House has also been trying to rebuild tariff authority after the Supreme Court struck down the centerpiece of Trump’s trade program in February 2026. On March 11, 2026, the administration opened a Section 301 investigation into “excess industrial capacity” in 16 trading partners, including China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. (cbc.ca) That list matters to chip supply chains because it covers several of the world’s biggest electronics and semiconductor manufacturing hubs. Jamieson Greer, the United States trade representative, said the probe could lead to new tariffs by the summer of 2026. (cbc.ca) The court calendar is stretching the uncertainty out. The Supreme Court agreed in September 2025 to hear the broader challenge to Trump’s sweeping tariffs in the first week of November, after a federal appeals court ruled 7-4 that he overreached under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. (cbc.ca) Even after lower-court losses, the tariffs have stayed in effect during the appeal. CBC reported in May 2025 that the Federal Circuit let the administration keep collecting the duties for the time being after the trade court ruled most of them illegal, while 25 per cent tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum remained untouched. (cbc.ca) Governments and companies are trying to negotiate around that moving target. CBC reported on March 6, 2026, that Canada and the United States had restarted face-to-face trade talks as Trump kept tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, automobiles, softwood lumber, copper products and kitchen cabinets in place. (cbc.ca) For chip buyers, the practical question is no longer just what the tariff rate is today. It is whether an exemption, a court order or a new trade case will rewrite the sourcing map before the next shipment clears customs. (cbc.ca 1) (cbc.ca 2)