Sask. truck drivers voice concern over U.S. tariff threat

WATCH: On Friday, the Saskatchewan trucking association voiced its concern about the potential impact the U.S. tariffs could have on the industry.

As the threats of tariffs loom, Saskatchewan truckers are voicing concerns about the potential impact on their industry.

“So, there is definitely a lot of concern about what’s going to happen,” said Susan Ewart, executive director of the Saskatchewan Trucking Association.

“And it feels like things are kind of keep ping-ponging back and forth, right? It’s happening. It’s not happening. So, it definitely creates a lot of uncertainty.

The Saskatchewan Trucking Association says the uncertainty comes at a time when companies are struggling with increased costs.

The association says the average truck and trailer pays $20,000 in carbon tax on diesel.

“So, when you’re moving groceries, or you’re moving, I don’t know, chips to Walmart, right, or Superstore or wherever it is, those costs that are now increased by the carrier then get passed along to their customers, right? Who then, in turn, pass those costs along to us,”

Ewart said. Ewart says a potential trade war with our southern neighbor could be the push to harmonize trucking regulations across Canada.

Getting provinces to follow the same truck travel rules is something Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe supports.

“We just need to clean some of this up. It’s tedious work, and we need to commit to it as provinces from coast to coast,” Moe said.

The Government of Canada says it is working with provinces and territories to reduce barriers to internal trade, including advancing a pilot project on mutual recognition in the trucking sector.

Political expert Hamish Telford estimates it will take years for all 13 provinces and territories to get on the same page.

“To get into the minutiae of the regulations that exist in various industries and harmonize them, I think is going to take a lot of time,” Telford said.