tariffs

Wednesday February 6, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 6, 2019

Knuckling under pressure to the U.S. won’t win battle of steel tariffs

What was Ontario’s economic development and trade minister thinking when he publicly called on Canada to surrender in the trade war with the United States?

March 3, 2018

On Monday Todd Smith said Canada should remove tariffs put in place in response to Donald Trump’s imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminum. Canada’s tariffs match those dollar for dollar, and are used in part to support companies and workers in the affected sectors.

Further, Smith said his boss, Doug Ford, wanted the same thing. “I know that the premier has suggested this to the federal government that they should remove their tariffs as a first step in removing tariffs overall.” As far as we know Ford hasn’t spoken on the matter, but if that’s how he feels, he should go public.

June 15, 2018

Why on earth would anyone, Ford or his minister, believe that Donald Trump would respect capitulation? Has Trump shown in past behaviour that he respects weakness? We must have missed that newscast.

Smith’s suggestion is so patently ridiculous it took only hours for steel and aluminum companies to pipe in with their support for Ottawa. A tweet from the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said: “The federal government’s retaliatory action against the U.S.A. is vital in protecting businesses and steelworkers.” The Aluminum Association of Canada said the Trudeau government should “maintain all tariffs on U.S. imports and support Canadian businesses as long as U.S. tariffs are in place.”

June 28, 2018

Analysts and pundits from all quarters were equally mystified and distraught. Why would the Ford government side with Trump against Canada? More than one suggested it might be linked to Ford’s oft-expressed respect and affection for Trump’s leadership. But suggesting Canada should surrender?

It turns out, if you believe the updated position of the province, that wasn’t behind Smith’s play. He really meant to say we should revisit tariffs on things other than steel and aluminum, like Kentucky bourbon and playing cards. That, he says, will demonstrate to Trump that Canada is willing to deal. This new position — if it can be called that — isn’t nearly as damaging, but it’s equally stupid. Do Smith and his boss really think Trump will come to the table based on bourbon and playing cards?

June 6, 2018

He won’t. He thinks his tariffs, broadly, have been a huge success and a sign of his historic greatness. Yes, they’re hurting Americans as they’re hurting Canadians, but Trump isn’t one to worry about his own citizens welfare. In his view, measures like these are signs of strength and dominance.

Tariffs are a real and growing problem for steel and aluminum companies. High steel prices have cushioned steel producers to some extent, but the impact of tariffs is already being felt in Sault St. Marie, and will eventually hit Hamilton as well.

Canada continues to work trade and diplomatic channels to see tariffs lifted. Some have suggested the prime minister shouldn’t give final approval to the new NAFTA agreement without resolution, and that might be worth considering. Trump sees NAFTA as a major accomplishment, and the fact that it might be stymied due to his nonsensical tariffs will trouble him. His own Congress has said it won’t support the new trade pact until tariffs have been lifted, and that might be worth Ottawa’s consideration, too. Much more work remains to be done.

But please, no more suggestions that Canada take a knee to the biggest bully in the free world. That’s embarrassing, and would only make dealing with Trump more difficult. The Trudeau government has walked a fine line to date between working with Trump and not being pushed around. That should continue to be its strategy. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Tuesday July 17, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday July 17, 2018

Premiers’ much-hyped internal trade deal hasn’t amounted to much

June 28, 2018

On the day they released the Canadian Free Trade Agreement in 2017, all the provincial and territorial trade ministers were given a symbolic pair of golden scissors to remind them to start cutting interprovincial trade barriers.

The trouble is, they aren’t using them.

The scissors were gifts from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, a relentless advocacy group for whom harmonizing — and ideally, cutting — government regulations is a mantra.

Its president and CEO, Dan Kelly, said he’s seen his snippy trophies proudly displayed in ministers’ offices across Canada. But one year after the trade deal took effect on Canada’s 150th birthday, July 1, 2017, has any tangible progress been made?

Well …

August 5, 2010

“It’s slow-going,” he said. The process lacks concrete timelines. He’s still waiting for the interprovincial trade committee to set priorities, let alone roll back barriers.

“I don’t think there’s anything that has changed, other than a commitment to start some work,” he said, laughing a bit when asked to identify which specific irritants have been settled between provinces in the deal’s first year of operations.

It’s easier to point to reasons things stalled.

There’s the pipeline debate in British Columbia and Alberta’s threat to retaliate, for starters, which risks “undermining the whole spirit of this agreement,” Kelly said. (Saskatchewan, another energy exporter, jumped into this fight too.)

It’s also hard to maintain momentum across 13 governments. During its time as chair of Canada’s internal trade committee, Ontario’s Liberal government (and specifically minister Brad Duguid) was a driving force in finalizing CFTA, which was announced at the premiers conference in Yukon in 2016 but not actually unveiled until the following spring in Toronto.

The chair has changed hands twice since then. First it swung to New Brunswick — home of the much-discussed Comeau case, in which that province’s right to stop its citizens from stocking their personal beer fridges across a provincial boundary was upheld by the Supreme Court. Now it’s Quebec’s turn.

Ontario’s recent change of government also delayed the distribution of a working group report on alcoholic beverages that was due by July 1 (more on that later). (Continued: CBC) 

 

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Thursday June 28, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 28, 2018

Trump’s tariffs will be more painful for Canada than the U.S., economist says

The Trump administration’s tariff threats have the potential to drive companies currently operating in Canada out of the country, the president of a Canadian automotive association said Tuesday.

June 14, 2018

The United States has already imposed tariffs on the steel and aluminum industries and has threatened to impose a 25 per cent levy on Canadian-made autos.

The tariffs could make Canadian-made products uncompetitive and add $6,000, $10,000 or more to the cost of a vehicle, said David Adams, president of Global Automakers of Canada, at an event sponsored by the Economics Club of Canada.

He said a nonautomotive company he knows has decided it can’t expand in the United States from Ottawa, because of the uncertainty, so it’s opening a U.S. office and the same could happen to automotive companies.

“The uncertainty effectively does the job of … driving more investment into the United States as the safe harbour,” Adams said.

June 13, 2018

The Trump administration hasn’t necessarily realized that the its tariffs will also hurt the United States, said MaryScott (Scotty) Greenwood, chief executive of the Canadian American Business Council — pointing to a recent announcement by Harley-Davidson.

A tariff war between the U.S. and many of its trade partners has already prompted the iconic American motorcycle company to move production of motorcycles bound for Europe overseas, blaming European Union tariffs it said would add an estimated $2,200 cost to the average bike. That prompted President Donald Trump — whose own tariffs prompted the EU moves — to accuse Harley of using tariffs as an excuse for moves already planned.

March 9, 2018

“It’s a very dangerous game we’re playing here, economically,” Greenwood said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced Canada will impose $16.6 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products coming into Canada, which go into effect on Sunday.

But CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld said Tuesday the United States is far better equipped than Canada to withstand the use of tariffs as a “sledge hammer” in trade negotiations.

Some Americans will face higher costs on imported goods from Canada but U.S. producers will be at a smaller risk because their home market is so much bigger than ours, Shenfeld said during a panel discussion about NAFTA in Toronto. (Source: Toronto Star) 

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Tuesday June 26, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 26, 2018

Trudeau to visit three cities on Canada Day, skip Parliament Hill festivities

Justin Trudeau will skip Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill this year.

March 28, 2017

Instead, the prime minister will be on the road, celebrating Canada’s 151st birthday in three cities in three different regions.

Trudeau is scheduled to visit Leamington, Ont., Regina and Dawson City, Yukon — all on July 1.

He will still put in an appearance on Parliament Hill but it will be via video from Leamington.

Spokesman Cameron Ahmad says Trudeau wants to spend Canada day with “Canadians and their families” in parts of the country he doesn’t often get a chance to visit.

June 1, 2018

But in at least two of the three cities, the tour seems designed to reflect the looming trade war between Canada and the United States.

Trudeau will meet steelworkers in Regina, who’ve been hard-hit by President Donald Trump’s imposition of crippling tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

And in Leamington, he’ll be meeting workers at the French’s ketchup factory.

Ketchup is one of many U. S. goods upon which the Trudeau government intends to slap $16.6 billions worth of retaliatory tariffs, starting on July 1. The Leamington visit appears aimed at reminding Canadians they can still get made-in-Canada ketchup, on which no tariff will apply. (Source: CTV) 

 

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Friday June 15, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 15, 2018

‘It will be very difficult’: Ontario’s Doug Ford faces uphill battle amid NAFTA troubles, Trump’s tariffs

Doug Ford pledged to stand united with the federal government in its heated trade dispute with the United States as the beleaguered NAFTA talks become a “critical” issue for his new government.

April 20, 2018

“The stakes are high,” Ontario’s premier-designate told reporters following a meeting with auto and steel industry representatives Wednesday. “Thousands of jobs rely on the outcome of these talks. Thousands of Ontario families are counting on us to defend their interests.”

The U.S. struck out at Canada last month with tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum. Hours later, Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on $16.6 billion of U.S.-made steel, aluminum and a range of other goods. Relations have been on a downward course since then, with Trump calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “weak and dishonest” in a Twitter post, apparently after he was angered by a G7 press conference in which Trudeau restated his objections to the U.S. Levies.

June 18, 2016

Ford said the “name-calling” was “not acceptable whatsoever.”

“I want to be very clear: we stand shoulder to shoulder with our federal counterparts,” he said.

As the Canada-U.S. dispute deepens, analysts say Ford will have his work cut out for him as he strives to deliver on his campaign promises amid weakened provincial finances and an increasingly uncertain business environment. (Source: Financial Post) 

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