BURSTPremier David Eby is continuing to take a hard line on tariffs as B.C.’s business community grapples with an escalating trade dispute between Canada and the U.S.
“The only way to deal with a thug and a bully is to stand up to him,” Eby said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference staged in a Vancouver liquor store, a clear nod to the province’s ongoing policy to keep U.S. alcohol products off shelves. “That’s why the prime minister’s step was the right one.”
He urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to go even further and ratchet up the pressure with non-tariff measures, suggesting the possibility of cutting off U.S. access to thermal coal export terminals at Roberts Bank, an idea floated previously by former B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad.
Those terminals are used by the Americans because they can’t easily ship out their coal from domestic ports.
“I think that this is something that the federal government should be looking at as well,” he said.
Eby’s comments come amid continued intensification of the trade war between Canada and the United States, which began over the weekend when talks between the two countries fell apart, and U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 50 per cent tariff on about $30 billion worth of Canadian imports.
Carney responded with levies to match on U.S. goods. These will come at a variety of rates from 15 to 50 per cent, and aim to match the American tariffs “dollar for dollar.”
The American tariffs are in place as of last Saturday, while Canadian countermeasures are set to take effect Sept. 8.
Business community frets about job losses
Jen Riley, president of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, called the latest round of tariffs a “body blow” for the province’s business community.
She says roughly 14 per cent of B.C.’s total exports are affected, and cited studies that estimate 11,200 jobs could be endangered. This would make B.C. the hardest-hit province per capita in Canada.
These tariffs come on top of already difficult duties on the softwood lumber industry that have led to mill closures across the province.
“B.C. businesses have been shouldering a burden for years,” Riley said. “Some of our major sectors — I’m going to call out forestry — are already in turmoil, and adding another round is just putting us in a more difficult position.”
Riley talked about how these impacts can be direct, such as when a pulp mill closes, or downstream in places like Delta when a trucking company carrying forest products is forced to cut loads.
She is also concerned about inputs for B.C. businesses, noting agricultural machinery as something that can’t easily be sourced locally.
Riley is set to meet with provincial and federal governments to call on both for targeted support for affected industries and measures that offer long-term relief rather than short-term fixes.
Ryan Mitton of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses says he hopes aid won’t exclude smaller businesses by having employee size or revenue minimums, and that the paperwork will be simple for owners, unlike the sometimes onerous process to apply for COVID pandemic supports.
“What we don’t want to see is those COVID-style mistakes,” he said, “where we saw small businesses buried in paperwork, needing to hire accountants to complete their applications, and taking weeks to get approved.”
Mitton talked about the outsize impacts on smaller businesses. These could be farmers sending product south, companies importing finished products, or those selling assembled goods to Americans. Or some combination of all of this.
He gave the example of raw agricultural products that are shipped south of the border to be processed as pet food and then come back across the border to be sold in a Canadian pet store.
“It’s getting hit both ways,” he said.
Eby seems to be hearing this message, and says the B.C. government is asking for supports that are “frictionless” and will aid small- to medium-sized businesses.
“They’re going to need additional support, and they don’t need a huge number of complicated processes to go through,” he said.