Following news announced on Monday that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump would impose a 25-per cent tariff on all products coming in to the United States from Canada and Mexico, many are wondering how this could affect B.C.
“Obviously, this will be devastating to workers on both sides of the border, both in the United States and in Canada,” Premier David Eby said on Tuesday.
“The impact on families will be profoundly significant.”
Eby said Canada is a major customer for the United States but they also depend on goods produced in Canada.
“We are one of the top exporters to the United States and certainly they’re our number one customer as well,” he said.
“We have more in common with Americans than what separates us. And focusing on that and how we can work together to strengthen and support working families across North America is critically important. We’re going to stand together and we’re going to ensure that we negotiate from a position of strength, that we negotiate hard, and we ensure that any decisions that are made are in the best interests of British Columbians and Canadians.”
Eby said there are improvements that can be made in B.C., especially when it comes to the border, including measures such as port police to ensure what comes into the province is not contraband, illicit drugs or precursor chemicals.
“But I’ll tell you this,” he said. “We’re going to stand together… as a province. We stand together with employers. We stand together with labour. And we’re going to stand together right across this country and ensure that families are protected here in British Columbia.”
Eby said premiers will be meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week to discuss a strategic approach.
“We need to be a government that supports all British Columbians in every corner of this province,” he said.
“We’re not just a government for the Lower Mainland. We’re not just a government for South Vancouver Island. We are a government for every corner of this province, for Prince George and Kamloops, for the interior, for the north and northeast, northwest (and) the islands.”
Bridgitte Anderson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said they are concerned this proposed tariff could be devastating for B.C.’s economy.
“The U.S. is our most important trading partner and that’s not going to change so we have to find a pathway forward,” she said.
“We need to make sure we’re taking this seriously.”
Anderson said we should not underestimate what the Trump administration is going to do.
“We heard some time ago that it could be 10 per cent tariffs across the board,” she said.
“Now it’s sounding like you could put 25 in. It might be bluster and it might be (a) negotiating tactic. Regardless, it is a shot across the bow to Canada, and it should be a wake-up call to Canada.”
Anderson said B.C. and Canada need to attract trade and investment and have a robust economic growth strategy.
Max Cameron, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia, told Global News this is a “declaration of trade war” on Canada.
“It’s not clear to me that Trump would actually deliver on this threat,” he said.
“I think it’s an opening position. I don’t think he would deliver on it because most U.S. trade is actually within the same corporation across the border. And so this would be very harmful to U.S. business and it would jack up the price of everything, particularly if it includes energy.”
Cameron said that Canada would have to take retaliatory measures but it would be a gamble on both sides of the border.
But he added that linking trade to border issues is uncommon.
“There are just so many ways in which this is just a very bizarre policy threat,” Cameron said.
“And it’s exactly what we were trying to avoid. We negotiated and after the first place, the whole point of having a trade agreement, the United States first, the NAFTA and then the more recent U.S., Mexico, Canada Free Trade Agreement, they’re supposed to prevent this sort of thing from happening.”
Cameron said the B.C. industries that could be hit the hardest include softwood lumber, energy, electricity, mining, agriculture and fisheries.
“So it really would affect everyone,” he added.
“And almost for certain, if he were to follow through on this threat, it would drive us into a recession. It would be, there would be, real hardship for Canadians and British Columbians in particular.”