Saint John mayor sees chance to ‘reinvent’ as Canada’s most tariff-exposed city

Saint John, N.B., is looking to diversify its trade amid the tariffs talk.

The mayor of what’s been dubbed Canada’s most tariff-exposed city says diversification will be key to maneuver through U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

Saint John, N.B., Mayor Donna Reardon says the economic uncertainty from Washington, D.C. could be an opportunity to “reinvent” in response to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s vulnerability rankings of 41 Canadian cities.

The national chamber says Saint John has the most to lose from U.S. tariffs, largely due to the Irving Oil Refinery exporting 80 per cent of crude oil to the United States.

“We have a lot of our eggs in one basket now, and we’ve had that historically,” says Reardon. “We’ve counted on that, that’s known for us. But now all of that is being shaken up.”

Reardon says the city needs to strengthen relationships with allies around the world and “find win-win opportunities.”

Port Saint John CEO Craig Estabrooks says the liquid bulk sector in the city’s outer harbour, owned by Irving Oil, certainly is a concern because of its reliance on U.S. customers. But Estabrooks says non-U.S. markets are a focus elsewhere around the port.

“We don’t have any service to the United States, with respect to our intermodal container activity,” says Estabrooks. “Our trade is very much north-south from Canada to Latin America and the Caribbean, and then we’ve opened up a lot of key markets to Europe, both from an import/export service.

“That potentially could be an opportunity for Canadian based exporters to utilize services we have at Port Saint John. It’s very mixed what could happen with this, so we just take it day-by-day because plans are changing.”

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities says the federal government will “be ready to support communities that are going to be hit more than others” in the event of tariffs.

Calgary and Windsor, Ont., came in at number two and three respectively in the national chamber’s tariff exposure ranking.

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