Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he wants to remove interprovincial trade barriers and bring Canada’s Border Security Agency under military control in response to the 25 per cent tariff American president Donald Trump has slapped on Canadian goods.
At a news conference Monday, Moe called for a de-escalation of the trade war between Canada and the United States, saying both countries lose in that battle.
“Canadians will lose that. We are an exporting province, we are an exporting nation. We should not be heading in that direction,” Moe said, while acknowledging he supports Canada’s first round of retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of American goods.
But for now, Moe doesn’t want to further escalate the trade war.
Premier Scott Moe says Trump seems “bent on destabilizing” the North American investment environment and that tariffs will harm Saskatchewan.
Several provinces, including Ontario and British Columbia, are pulling American liquor from shelves as an opening salvo.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also said he was ripping up Ontario’s $100-million contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink in response to the U.S. tariffs.
Moe said he’s not ruling any options out, but that at this time Saskatchewan will not be following suit.
Instead, Moe advocated bringing Canada’s Border Security Agency under military control. He said doing that would allow Canada to put troops at the border, addressing Trump’s concerns about drugs and illegal immigrants moving into the United States from Canada.
Business groups want barriers to interprovincial trade removed
Moe also called for an end to interprovincial trade barriers to offset the 25 per cent tariff. That sentiment was echoed by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.
Prabha Ramaswamy, CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, told Saskatoon Morning that the impact of tariffs will be severe and far-reaching for Saskatchewan’s economy.
“What President Trump has done is unjust, unfair and unwarranted.”
Ramaswamy’s comments came as businesses, politicians and consumers across the country are grappling with how best to deal with the tariffs and support Canadian businesses.
Saskatoon Morning7:09The effects of U.S. tariffs on Saskatchewan’s economy
U.S. tariffs are coming and along with them a potential trade war. That could mean a lot of hurt for Saskatchewan producers and consumers alike.Saskatoon Morning host Stephanie Massicotte talks with the CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, Prabha Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy said provincial chambers of commerce and the national branch are asking that premiers put interprovincial trade on the table immediately to make it easier to move and sell goods between provinces.
She said that move alone could generate $150 billion for the Canadian economy.
“So to some extent that would offset tariffs.”
Shannon Friesen, CEO of the Construction Association of Saskatchewan, said the American tariffs and Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will push prices up in her industry and create volatility in the supply chain.
“Canadians aren’t going to lie down and take this reckless tariff easily. We’ll find new ways of responding to this,”
Jason Aebig, CEO of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, said most of the response to American tariffs should have been done years ago by building pipelines to move Canadian oil to markets outside of the U.S.
“The fact of the matter is we have had about a decade to prepare for this kind of moment,” Aebig said.
He said he hopes businesses stockpiled some inventory and inputs needed to keep their immediate costs down.
But without the energy infrastructure needed to sell oil, gas and liquefied natural gas to markets outside of the U.S., Canadians remain vulnerable, Aebig said.
“Now I think it’s about holding on as hard as you can and shoring up whatever customer base that you have.” Aebig said.