The Belleville Chamber of Commerce is reacting to the announcement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on multiple countries.
On Wednesday, Trump detailed which countries will see higher tariffs, at what amounts and when.
The taxes on imports are all set to take effect within the next week, with some countries seeing tariffs on top of tariffs.
While Canada has escaped the “reciprocal” tariffs, we are still going to be affected by 25 per-cent levies on automobiles that are to go into effect early today.
The full statement from CEO Jill Raycroft provided to Quinte News can be found below:
The question of tariffs continues to weigh on our sense of control over the growth and prosperity of our economy but how do you take the time to focus on opportunity while the threat is ever changing in the midst of a federal election?
In contrast to COVID, where the experts were medical professions, our businesses can inform through their experience how the government should support competitiveness, opportunity investment and new partnerships as the advocate of the Canadian economy on the world stage.
Even if the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is reinstated fully, trust has been broken. Our economy is deeply intertwined (maybe even entangled) with our closest trading partner and while there have been many benefits on both sides, that reliance created complacency while our attention to post-COVID and global disruptions have distracted us from risk assessment.
The industry relationships run far deeper than legislation and everyone will attempt to navigate mutually beneficial agreements behind the scenes. But as loopholes are closed and disincentives pressure collaboration, repairing inward is just as essential as looking outward.
The Ontario Chamber has identified three key actions:
- Renegotiation of CUSMA – to balance us in the moment
- Push for trade diversification – to mitigate future risk
- Strengthening domestic competitiveness – to support national unity
Locally, the more we know about what each business is facing, the better we are positioned to help connect them to partners they never thought of. The upcoming federal election gives us a chance to share the issues and I encourage our members and the community to submit their questions online for the candidates’ debate at the Empire Theatre April 15. Go to bellevillechamber.ca and click the Submit questions graphic (it rotates).
With files from the Canadian Press
