Banff (Rural Roots Canada) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canada has the agriculture industry on edge.
“We are certainly nervous about tariffs,” says Greg Sears, Director of Region 6 for Alberta Grains, and a farmer in the Peace Region. “Approximately 7% of Alberta’s wheat and 11% of Alberta’s barley goes into the States. Certainly, there’ll be a direct impact on those two crops, reducing our netbacks to the farm, which could be significant.”
Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods unless the two countries strengthen their borders to prevent illegal migrants and drugs like fentanyl from entering the U.S.
Sears points out there are still several weeks before Trump assumes the presidency and an ongoing, productive dialogue is necessary ahead of that. “Now is the time that we have to engage with the different levels of government in Canada and our industry partners nationally to maintain engagement with our contacts in the United States, the bureaucrats, and at the state level to make sure that the message of the mutual benefits and importance of free and open trade between our two countries.”
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John Barlow, Conservative Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Agri-Food, and Food Security in Ottawa, echoes that sentiment.
“Our industries, especially agriculture, are so integrated. Whether it’s cattle, grain, or pork, we rely on each other and as friends, we want to make sure that relationship stays that way,” he stresses. “It’s our job now to talk to our colleagues south of the border to make sure they understand the impact this will have.”
Barlow estimates the effects of tariffs will be profound. “It’s going to take away three per cent of our GDP. The U.S. is 60 per cent of our trade. And it’s not just agriculture but most commodities made in Canada. In agriculture, it’s more than $30 billion that gets traded across that border. So, there’s no question this will have a massive impact.”
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Trump in Florida. He called it a “productive” meeting but received no assurances that Trump would back away from his tariff threat.
