Export-based businesses across the Maritimes are in shock and unsure of the economic impact from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs that came into effect Tuesday.
Many sectors in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are now waiting and bracing for what comes next.
As of Tuesday, a sweeping 25 per cent tariff was imposed on all goods entering the United States from both Canada and Mexico, with a 10 per cent tariff on Canada’s energy exports.
Canada responded with immediate 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of American products and will expand them to cover another $125 billion in U.S. goods in 21 days.
The lobster sector exports roughly 65 per cent of its products to the U.S., and American shoppers are already seeing a hefty price increase in the grocery store.
The Lobster Council of Canada says this will impact everyone — from processors to fish industry workers living in small communities.
The council’s executive director, Geoff Irvine, says they’re looking at different markets.
“We just returned from a trade mission in Europe with a bunch of companies. Not just lobster, lots of other species as well, but it all takes time. We’re not going to flick a switch and replace [a] market that takes 65 per cent of our product,” he said.
He adds that American seafood companies are also unhappy with the tariffs and have been advocating on the Canadian industry’s behalf.
“Our American colleagues are alarmed and embarrassed and feel as badly as we do. I mean, American seafood companies rely on our fish to make money,” he said.
The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association agreed that is the prevailing sentiment in the U.S. manufacturing industry.
“They are shaking their heads. They don’t understand what Trump is doing. It certainly wasn’t in the playbook, and they certainly didn’t hire a president to do this,” said Ron Marcolin, the association’s vice-president for New Brunswick and P.E.I.
“(It’s going) to increase costs, to put people out of work and ultimately in some parts of the United States, destroy industry.”
A recent report by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce found that Saint John would be the hardest hit by U.S. tariffs among Canadian cities.
Researchers said the New Brunswick city was most vulnerable because the area is home to the Irving Oil refinery — the largest crude oil refinery in Canada. The refinery can process over 320,000 barrels daily, with more than 80 per cent of that oil exported south of the border.
Marcolin is based in Quispamsis, N.B. and says export-reliant sectors like forestry, agriculture and seafood, as well as oil and gas, are waiting to see how things play out before making any drastic moves.
“People have to absorb this. They have to then deal with this as obviously a high cost,” he said.
“But they won’t be doing layoffs immediately. They will be doing a number of workarounds.”