'We're a rudderless ship': B.C. industry leaders bracing for Trump's impact

During a news conference Tuesday, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump didn't hold back in his message to Canada.

“Why are we supporting a country $200-billion-plus a year?” said Trump. “Our military is at their disposal. They should be a state.”

In recent weeks Trump has posted on social media his desire to make Canada the 51st U.S. state, and also expressed plans to impose a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian exports into the United States. 

With Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, B.C. industry leaders are bracing for impact.

“There’s currently an average of 14-per-cent softwood lumber tariffs going on our products right now, so does that mean it now becomes 39 per cent as of Jan. 20? We don’t know that answer,” said Jeff Bromley, chair of the United Steelworkers Wood Council.

Bromley represents approximately 14,000 forestry workers across Canada, and around 9,000 workers in B.C.

“I’ve told them to prepare, because we could be suffering incremental layoffs throughout this year, and into the future, so it’s not good news,” said Bromley.

The tariffs could also see major impacts to Canada's energy sector.

According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), Canada provides around 99 per cent of all the natural gas imported by the U.S., and roughly 60 per cent of oil imports.

“Placing a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian oil and natural gas would have immediate negative impacts on Canadians and Americans,” said Lisa Baiton, CAPP's president and CEO. “No one wins with a tariff on Canadian energy. Our countries have an over 100-year partnership in energy trade that has supported economic prosperity for citizens on both sides of the border.”

Laura Jones, president of the Business Council of BC, says the impacts could be devastating for B.C. and Canada’s economy.

“Fifty-four per cent of the exports from B.C. go to the U.S. and about 10 per cent of our employment is tied to our exports to the U.S,” said Jones. “It affects consumers, it affects workers, it affects businesses. It really affects everybody.”

While Canadian premiers are heading to Washington to tamp down tariff talks, the federal government has shut down Parliament as the Liberal Party seeks a new leader following Trudeau’s announcement that he will resign as prime minister.

“This is probably the worst possible time you can imagine to not have strong national leadership with a clear public mandate,” said Jones.

“Essentially, we’re a rudderless ship,” said Bromley. “You know, who’s running the ship into the tempest?"