Moosehead CEO says removal of internal trade barriers would bring opportunities and ‘pain’

All levels of government are looking to address interprovincial trade barriers.

The CEO and president of Saint John-based Moosehead Breweries Ltd. says the removal of interprovincial trade barriers would present both opportunities and “pain.”

Andrew Oland says a discussion about potential challenges “has been missing from the dialogue” amongst enthusiasm for internal trade barriers being removed, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s next deadline for tariffs taking effect.

“There is going to be short-term pain,” says Oland, regarding the removal of internal trade barriers. “There is going to be job losses with these restrictions if they’re reduced or eased because there is an element of protecting certain businesses and supply chains within a province.

“It’s ultimately about something called creative destruction. There are short term losers whenever you have creative destruction.”

At the same time, Oland – who is also the chairperson for Beer Canada – says those same barriers have made Canadian businesses reliant on U.S. customers.

“It’s easier for us to sell beer in Nevada than it is in Newfoundland,” says Oland. “In Newfoundland, 80 per cent of beers are sold in a convenience store, and in order to be sold in a convenience store you have to be brewed on the island. As businesspeople in Canada, we deal with all sorts of these barriers which restrict trade, and it’s one of the reasons we all look south as opposed to east or west.”

With Trump’s new March deadline looming, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the federal government’s primary objective is to still avoid tariffs altogether.

“Nothing that we could do to retaliate would hurt as much (of) the American economy and American workers than the decision to actually impose the tariffs by President Trump itself,” says LeBlanc, who was joined by New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt for a separate announcement in Shediac, N.B. on Friday.

Both LeBlanc and Holt will be in Washington, D.C., next week.

“We are going to be talking to a number of senators, congresspeople, governors who are all going to help articulate the impact to their state,” says Holt. “We’re seeing it happen now in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, North Dakota, and Georgia as states realize the negative impact on their economy and are able to start articulating to the president the job losses that they’re going to see.”

Maine Governor Janet Mills and Maine Senator Susan Collins have recently issued statements in support of the tariffs not being implemented, saying it would have troubling consequence for their residents.

Oland says Canadian politicians and businesses should also keep in mind that seeking out new Canadian markets will likely come with its own international baggage.

“We’ve lost a big customer, and the rest of the world knows we’ve lost a big customer,” says Oland. “So when we go knocking on their doors in terms of additional trade agreements and things like that, they’re going to be looking for and expecting significant concessions from Canada.”

With files from CTV’s Roger Peterson