British Columbia Premier David Eby said Canada had to approach Donald Trump’s plan to impose a 25 per cent U.S. tariff on Canadian goods from a position of strength, as business, trade and community organizations called for quick action on the trade threat.
Eby said premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would meet this week to discuss “our strategic approach” to the U.S. president-elect’s plan to impose the tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports immediately after his inauguration on Jan. 20, unless action was taken to stem the cross-border flow of migrants and illegal drugs.
The B.C. premier made the comments Tuesday in a speech to the annual convention of the B.C. Federation of Labour in Vancouver.
“Obviously, this will be devastating to workers on both sides of the border,” he said. “Both in the U.S. and in Canada the impact on families will be profoundly significant.”
Canada and the U.S. have long been top trading partners, on imports as well as exports, and the strength of this relationship put Canada in a solid position when it came to Trump’s tariff threat, Eby said.
“We have more in common with Americans than what separates us,” he said. “We buy more American stuff than France, than China and Japan and the United Kingdom combined. So, we are negotiating, I believe, from a position of strength.”
Eby acknowledged improvements could be made on Canada’s border, especially when it came to policing contraband and illegal drugs.
“We’ve called repeatedly, for example, for port police to ensure what comes into B.C. is not contraband, is not illicit drugs or precursor chemicals,” he said. “These are things that we can do to make life better here in B.C., as well as respond to concerns that have been raised south of the border.”
Trump issued a statement on social media on Monday saying Canada and Mexico had the power to solve their border issues, which he called a “long simmering problem.”
Business organizations in B.C. called on the provincial and federal government to immediately address Trump’s tariff plan that they said would will hurt businesses.
The proposal would have “significant consequences” for B.C. businesses of all sizes and would harm communities and workers across the province, said Fiona Famulak, B.C. Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer.
“Ottawa must take this news seriously and work proactively with representatives of the incoming US administration immediately to address the issue before the tariffs are implemented,” she said in a statement. “We cannot afford to wait until January to take action.”