Wolfgang Alschner (English and French)
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law – Common Law Section and School of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Hyman Soloway Chair in Business and Trade Law.
Professor Alschner’s areas of expertise includes tariffs, general global trade policy and CUSMA. He can focus on the implications of any decision.
"A crucial point to keep in mind is that the tariffs at issue are the IEEPA duties which mostly exempt Canadian products. So even if the tariffs were found to be illegal, the immediate impact on Canada would be minor. The more severe s232 tariffs that target Canadian steel, alu and cars will remain in place and have not been challenged.
"Medium term - an adverse ruling would force a minor change in tactics but not in strategy on Trump. There are other tariff authorities he could use. They would require more process but still provide ample discretion and ability to inflict pain on trading partners."
Errol Mendes (English only)
Full Professor, Faculty of Law – Common Law Section
Professor Mendes’ research includes constitutional and human rights law, global governance, public international law.
"Canadian officials - especially Ontario Premier Doug Ford - should say nothing on what the outcome of the hearing is likely to be, especially if the Supreme Court should declare them unconstitutional. Leave the reaction to Prime Minister Mark Carney. We are dealing with a global bully who can wreck major damage on those that criticize him."