Canada was spared from sweeping global tariffs, but businesses and the economy are expected to still be impacted across Alberta and the country. Doug Griffiths, the president and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, joined CTV Morning Live Edmonton to share his thoughts on Trump’s major announcement.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Kent Morrison: A lot of people are expecting many different things as Donald Trump stepped to the microphone yesterday, and then we find out that Canada is not really involved. What did you think at that moment?
Doug Griffiths: I know a lot of people will breathe a sigh of relief and say, “We got through this,” but my impression is that the next time, May 2, he may introduce new tariffs and say, “Just kidding,” because he seems to thrive on chaos. That’s how he does negotiations. I don’t want us to waste this opportunity to invest back in Canada and make sure that we don’t fall prey to this again. Because if he does impose tariffs another time in his four year term, it will be our fault that we haven’t made changes and adjustments to make sure we’re prosperous going forward.
Kent: What things do you think needs to happen now?
Doug: With the federal election going on, I would encourage every business owner, every Canadian to explore the federal parties and challenge them that we need changes to our tax structure to make us more competitive. We need investments in infrastructure, railroad, runway, pipelines, and to make sure every sector of our economy and every business can get to tidewater, so that we can be more competitive and find international markets. Interprovincial trade is a critical issue. We’re talking about saving 200-billion in our economy, between three and four percent, depending on which economist you talk to, and an increase in our GDP overnight. Those are three measures that will improve the productivity of Canadians and our economy and make us more resilient to whatever chaos that may happen to the south in the next four years.
Kent: Are both chaos and uncertainty just as damaging as the tariffs themselves?
Doug: That’s the problem. Over the last couple of years, people were concerned about the impact of the tariffs. I would say that the tariffs being imposed will impact individual businesses, but the threats of the tariffs had a bigger impact, and still is, because it puts a chill on the economy. It stops businesses from making appropriate and strategic investments, from hiring people, from producing new products, from increasing inventory, from looking for new markets, everyone is timid then, and that has had a bigger impact on our economy. I think we’ll continue to, because I don’t think there’s certainty from what came out yesterday. May 2 could prove another date where a new round of tariffs comes out. The chaos is what President Trump has constantly thrived on in his negotiations, and I don’t think we’re out of the chaos yet.
Kent: What would your advice be to businesses here in Edmonton trying to navigate all this right now?
Doug: We’re the Chamber of Commerce and also the World Trade Center, and as the World Trade Center, we’re working on interprovincial trade. We’re actually working on attracting some businesses in Edmonton that are looking to expand their markets across Canada. We’ve got other industries that we work for, and other institutions we work with that are looking for international trade. But I encourage them to think about what they could do to grow their markets, and to mitigate the impact of potentially losing the American market in the future.
