Message from Bianca McGregor, CEO of Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce:
Last week I, and Chamber President Ben Parsons, had the privilege of joining Team PEI’s delegation to New England, alongside the Premier, elected officials, and key sector representatives.
We met with other chambers and business leaders from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, to learn how they felt about the impeding tariff threat.
The overwhelming message from these meetings was clear: stakeholders on both sides of the border don’t want tariffs, recognizing the harm it would cause. With tariffs, there is no winning side – everyone loses.
Tariffs don’t just disrupt trade, they send shockwaves through the entire economy, raising costs (for businesses and consumers alike on both sides) at a time when many wallets are stretched thin.
As reported by our regional and national Chambers, under a 25% blanket tariff, the average Canadian would lose $1,900 (CAD) annually and the average American would lose $1,300 (USD) annually. Canada’s GDP would shrink by 2.6% (approximately CAD$78 billion) and the U.S. GDP would shrink by 1.6% (approximately USD $467 billion).
$3.6 billion dollars in cross-border trade happens daily and 3.7 million jobs in Canada and the U.S. are tied to exports between our two countries. In our province alone, 249 companies and 8,136 local jobs rely on exports to the U.S. PEI exports 1.8 billion annually to the states. That 1.8 billion amounts to 80% of our export trade. Our supply chain with the U.S. is deeply intertwined, with products often crossing the border multiple times for assembly and/or processing.
Trade partnerships between Canada and the U.S. have been built over decades, and we cannot risk having these relationships crumble overnight. It was a relief to learn yesterday that tariffs on Canadian goods and services won’t take effect right away as initially announced, but rather a memorandum was signed to study trade issues, indicating that perhaps we can hope for a more measured approach on trade relations.
While there are no tariffs in effect today, we must remain cautious and continue to build on the relationships forged last week. The situation remains fluid and we simply can’t afford the luxury of waiting to see what happens.
Strong trade relationships are the backbone of our economy, and the Chamber network will continue working to protect them by staying in touch with our counterparts in the U.S. to impress upon them the importance of actively advocating for free trade with Canada.
Resources to Learn More:
- The Canadian Chamber’s Business Data Lab has launched a Canada-U.S. trade tracker, an interactive tool highlighting the economic impact of Canada and the U.S. trade. Check it out here.
- Infographic on PEI-U.S. trade
- Infographic on Atlantic Canada-U.S. trade
Greater Charlottetown Chamber with the Greater Boston Chamber