Premier David Eby responded to US President Donald Trump’s intentions to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada, which could come on Saturday.
“This is obviously a huge concern to British Columbians, and even if they’re not directly working in export related industries, knowing how whole communities rely on jobs that involve exports to the United States,” Eby said.
Eby said everything the provincial government is currently doing is being done through the lens of what those tariffs mean for the province, and ensuring they’re in position to respond.
“The federal government today (Tuesday) has been indicating that they have prepared measures to support Canadians who may be directly affected by tariffs,” he continued.
“I want to assure British Columbians of two things, one is that we’re going to make sure that the federal government keeps to those commitments, that they treat this as seriously as they did the COVID-19 response, and for our part here in British Columbia, that we will fill in the gaps to make sure that British Columbians are protected.”
Eby said this is a significant threat, but he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world facing this threat.
“We have the people, we have the skills, we have the access to the port, we have the resources to come out the other side of this threat stronger, more independent, building more things for ourselves, growing more things for ourselves, and building partnerships with countries around the world that want to do business with a strong, democratic country that prioritizes it’s people and it’s relationships around the world,” Eby said.
“We will make sure that if the tariffs come in, the lesson that is learned by the United States is that we are tough, there is no free lunch here in Canada, or in British Columbia.”
Eby added he will support the federal government on matching tariffs, and the province will identify other ways to respond to harms caused by the tariffs from the United States.
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