N.B. premier calls for unified front on Trump tariff threat
CBC
Premier Susan Holt says Canadian political leaders need to come together with a unified approach to persuade Donald Trump against imposing new tariffs on Canada when he becomes president in January.
Trump threatened in a social media post Monday night to slap 25-per-cent tariffs "on all products" entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico — a move that would send shock waves through New Brunswick's export-dependent economy.
"The stakes couldn't be higher," said Nat Richard, the executive director of the Lobster Processors Association, which ships 75 per cent of its frozen lobster to U.S. buyers.
"There's no way to sugarcoat this. If this comes to pass it would have very serious consequences."
According to the New Brunswick government, 92.1 per cent of all exports from this province went to the United States in 2023.
In 2022, refined oil from Irving and shellfish were the province's most valued exports, making up more than 60 per cent of the total dollar value.
About 80 per cent of the Irving Oil refinery's products are exported to the U.S.
Trump imposed tariffs on Canada during his first term as president but eventually removed them after Canada retaliated with penalties of its own, and after the two countries and Mexico renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Holt said Tuesday she is optimistic Trump will back off again.
"The tariffs that he put in place didn't last very long, and we're hopeful that they will see the light again and how damaging this would be to the American economy," she said.
"The American economy relies on petroleum products from Canada and from New Brunswick, and it would hurt them to go this route. So I think we'll be able to convince them that these tariffs are not a wise move."
Michelle Robichaud, the president of the Atlantica Centre for Energy, an industry-supported regional research centre, said she worried that the tariffs would affect the competitiveness of industry in the region.
"Personally, I wonder whether the proposed tariffs could make more attractive for energy businesses to consider opportunities for investing in the U.S. instead of here," she said.
Richard pointed out that Maine lobsters are shipped to Atlantic Canada for processing and then are shipped back to the U.S., in frozen form, for sale.
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