Preparing for the worst: local leaders meet to discuss impact of tariffs

London Mayor Josh Morgan convened a meeting at city hall on Friday hoping to brace for a potential trade war. CTV's Bryan Bicknell reports.

Business, institution, and community leaders in London came together Friday in a brain-storming session of sorts on how to protect the local economy in the face of a looming trade war.

The meeting, convened by Mayor Josh Morgan, comes in the face of tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Jobs in all sectors of the economy are suddenly in jeopardy, with the U.S. tariffs delayed by one month, but still looming large. It’s proving to be a guessing game for employers both large and small.

“Some of them are going to be hurt by the tariffs, some of them are going to be hurt by the retaliatory tariffs,” said Steve Pellarin, Executive Director of the London Small Business Centre, who attended the meeting. “So, a lot of it’s going to come down to them informing and educating themselves, how the supply chains are being impacted, and what they can do to minimize that impact. But again, as we’re hearing right across the country now, more emphasis and focus on interprovincial trade,” he explained.

The meeting lasted a little more than one hour. Part of it was to get a sense of what each sector is going through, and come up with a solution to lessen the impact of tariffs, should they come to pass.

“Whether it’s COVID, or these geopolitical threats like tariffs now, these external economic shocks will continue to happen, so it’s important to build a diversified profile. It’s important to build our local sourcing and supply chains,” said Kapil Lakhotia, President and CEO of the London Economic Development Corporation.

Meantime, the CEO of the London Chamber of Commerce said he believes the federal government is not doing enough to prevent the tariffs.

“Get rid of the tariffs altogether. Retaliatory tariffs are great, but you still have tariffs that you’re dealing with,” said Graham Henderson.

Mayor Morgan said a big part of the local strategy comes down to preparing for the worst.

“How are we going to be more resilient in the future,” he asked, rhetorically. “If there are stimulus programs, how are we going to make them strategic? How are we going to look at our own supply chains? How are we going to look at how we support local businesses? Look at our own regulations, whether they’re interprovincial, and the way we do business between cities and across provinces - those are all things that we can continue to prepare for and work on, while the unknown of how the trade dispute will be resolved hangs out there in the balance,” said Morgan.

Mayor Morgan travels to Washington D.C. next week in a delegation with Premier Ford, and that’s followed by a series of meetings over the next few weeks stateside in an effort to minimize the impact of tariffs on local economies.