The Chair of the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce says the most recent tariff increase from the United States creates another opportunity to focus on improving trade in Canada.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday night increasing the tariff on non-CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Free Trade Agreement) compliant goods from 25 per cent to 35 per cent. Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Chair, John Anderson, says the situation has created an opportunity for the country to focus on what they can control, adding the possible golden lining to the situation is the heightened focus on improving the ability to do business across the country.
“I think there is plenty of evidence in the news over the last few months that there is lots of opportunity to take concrete steps, get rid of some red tape, get rid of some maybe outdated policy, and open up real valuable opportunities right within Canada,” Anderson says. “The challenge for our business community is you need to invest some time in understanding that landscape, understanding the changes, and kind of at least keeping up or getting ahead.”
Anderson says everyone is learning on the fly and that is why local chambers across the country are encouraging businesses to identify something policy’s or barriers that don’t feel right and bring it forward so so the chamber take it to policymakers and say “hey, this regulation doesn’t make any sense, let’s do something about it.”
Because of Grande Prairie’s geographic location, Anderson believes the community has an opportunity to influence and drive interprovincial trade regulations.
“We have businesses that every day do business on both sides of the Alberta BC border, and I know that our members of Parliament are hungry for specific examples of policy that you’re experiencing that doesn’t seem to make sense.”
When it comes to the announcements coming from the White House that continue to fuel uncertainty, the chamber is empathetic with those who are impacted.
“We’ve been saying all along that, you know, the real burden is the uncertainty that’s being created. So that is unfortunate, and businesses are certainly getting tired of it,” Anderson states. “This is definitely a wake-up call for all of Canada and the businesses within. We need to not just take our trade policy for granted. We need to be diligent in striving for a diverse customer base, and that challenge just never goes away.”
Across Canada, businesses are addressing not only the 35 per cent tariffs, but also tariffs on specific sectors such as automotive and softwood lumber.
