Halifax’s municipal government has announced its commitment to hiring and buying Canadian due to the ongoing trade war with the U.S. – but scrapping all American contracts may be easier said than done.
During Tuesday’s Halifax City Council meeting some councillors learned only 0.5 per cent of products in the province come from our neighbours down south – excluding U.S. firms with offices within Canada.
Though it’s a small number, the 0.5 per cent of goods that come from the U.S. consists of things like software, e-books for the library, and even bus parts which can be tough to source locally.
“For instance, bus parts, if the only supplier or only maker of bus parts is in the States, and we say we’re not buying them, we would then have a number of buses that may be off the road,” said Jane Pryor, Halifax’s director of procurement.
“So there is an impact, both short-term and long-term, that we need to be very cognizant of.”
Some Halifax businesses are also concerned the retaliatory tariffs could shut out potential trade partners.
“Confronting American bullying makes perfect sense but retreating behind a protectionist wall that would potentially shutout exporters from friends like the Netherlands or Norway or New Brunswick, that could impede Halifax companies from selling into those markets when they return for those actions,” said Ian Munro, Halifax Partnership chief economist.
The tariffs are based on where the products are manufactured, not purchased, but staff say the city doesn’t know where many of the products it buys are made.
Moving forward, bidders will need to disclose where products are manufactured.
“We have never, as an org, have never said ‘Where are your parts coming from?’ because it’s never been an issue,” said Pryor.
Council also learned Tuesday that some international conferences that were planned for the U.S. are now eyeing Halifax as a host.
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