‘Will harm both countries,’ Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., mayor says about U.S. tariffs

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh reacts to the U.S. implementing tariffs against Canada as he calls for an emergency session of Parliament.

Reaction from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. to U.S. President Donald Trump sparking a trade war with tariffs imposed Tuesday.

Matthew Shoemaker says the 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports will harm both countries.

“It is a reckless and short-sighted choice. Canada and the United States share the most successful trade relationship in modern history, valued at approximately $950 billion per year and supporting millions of jobs on both sides of the border,” the mayor said in a statement.

“While these tariffs will affect Canadians across the country, people in Sault Ste. Marie understand all too well that those in the towns and cities along our nation’s border – whose economies and communities are deeply intertwined with our American neighbours – will be impacted even more significantly.”

He said the U.S. Conference of Mayors passed an emergency resolution urging the Trump administration to reverse the tariffs.

“This act of solidarity underscores the recklessness of these tariffs,” Shoemaker added.

Leaders from Canadian communities have formed a group called the Border Mayors Alliance to lend a municipal-level perspective to national and international policy discussions.

“While these tariffs certainly pose a massive economic challenge for Canada, it is important to recognize that Americans will feel the pain as well. Recent history offers a guide to the consequences of levying tariffs on Canada,” Shoemaker said.

A report by the Tax Foundation said the 2018-2019 tariffs imposed by Trump and retained by Biden reduced long-run GDP by 0.2 per cent and 142,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

The newest tariffs are estimated to reduce hours worked by 223,000 full-time equivalent jobs and reduce after-tax incomes by an average of 0.6 per cent before accounting for any retaliation, the foundation said in a report Tuesday.

“Canadians are strong and resilient … Now is the time for us to come together and draw on this resilience in the face of this unjustified challenge,” Shoemaker said.

“We will not be deterred.”

Surprised Trump went through with it

“It was a surprise,” Jason Naccarato of the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce told CTV News reporter Cory Nordstrom in an interview Tuesday.

“I think a lot of people saw it as a tactic and something he wouldn’t go through with.”

Naccarato said he was talking to a local manufacturer Tuesday morning who told him production will continue for about a week or so, but then shutdown for maintenance.

He did not say who the company was.

“There’s just so much uncertainty right now,” Naccarato said he was told.

“The shutdowns normally last a few weeks, so he thought ‘while this sorts itself out it’s a good time to do that, let’s do a shutdown and maintain all of our equipment and see where we’re at at that point in time.’”

He added that the idea companies would pick up and move their manufacturing plants to the U.S. in response to the trade war is “naïve.”

Canada retaliating

In response to the U.S. tariffs, Canada is launching 25 per cent tariffs of its own.

“This was not the outcome Canada hoped for – but we must respond in order to protect our economy and Canadian jobs,” Sault Ste. Marie MP Terry Sheehan said in a news release Tuesday.

A list of U.S. products worth $30 billion – including chicken, orange juice, peanut butter, alcohol, clothing, appliances, footwear and some paper products – have been targeted in what Canada is calling it’s first phase.

“The scope of the Canadian counter tariffs will be increased to $155 billion if the current U.S. tariffs are maintained. The scope could also be increased if new tariffs are imposed,” Sheehan said.

Additional countermeasures could include electric vehicles, produce, beef, pork, dairy, electronics and trucks.

“The government is also taking steps to mitigate the impact of these countermeasures on Canadian workers and businesses by establishing a remission process to consider requests for exceptional relief from the tariffs imposed as part of our response to the U.S. applying unjustified tariffs on Canada,” the MP said.

“All options remain on the table as the government considers additional measures, including non-tariff options, should the U.S. continue to apply unjustified tariffs on Canada.”