Premier Scott Moe is holing out hope damaging economic tariffs can be avoided.
Moe returned from a three-day trip to Washington D.C. early Friday morning, where he led a delegation of provincial business leaders to speak with American lawmakers and decision makers in an effort of underscoring the importance of Saskatchewan’s role in a strong economic and trade partnership between Canada and the United States.
Moe made it clear that 25 per cent tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to implement has early as next week can be avoided.
“No one wins with the imposition of tariffs,” Moe said. “No North American finally wins in that environment, and it makes our economy, our continental economy, much less competitive.”
If tariffs do kick-in on March 4, he said it will end up costing American families more.
“The very first impacts will be observed by an American family that’s fuelling up their vehicle at the pumps,” Moe said. “They’ll notice it at the grocery store, because that very fuel is used to get the products to the grocery store.”
“There is a path to avoid, these tariffs.”
After his second trip to the capital this month, Keith Willoughby, the dean of the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business, said the open dialogue between Moe and his American counterparts could make a difference in trade talks.
“If you’re a political leader at this time, you can either retaliate or you can communicate,” he said.
Willoughby said while Saskatchewan may not have a large population, it has the exports the United States needs. He says one in every five gallons of oil in the United States comes from our jurisdiction. Moe went a couple of steps further and pointed to the province’s energy and agriculture prowess as a central point of conversations this week.
Moe said one in 17 American homes are powered by electricity supplied from Saskatchewan uranium, in addition to 90 per cent of potash being used by United States farmers in the Midwest coming from Saskatchewan.
Unlike Alberta — which Willoughby says sends 90 per cent of its trade to the U.S, Saskatchewan has a little bit of a buffer with 55 per cent of its trade happening with U.S..
Willoughby says regardless of how diverse each province’s trading portfolio is, there is plenty at stake right now.
“There’s half a trillion dollars of goods that are passing forth between our nations,” Willoughby said. “So this is a half a trillion dollar tsunami.”
Moe isn’t in favour of reciprocal tariffs that could lengthen any potential trade battle. He said the longer any issues persist, the more it will affect Canadians and Americans alike.
“First, you will see some job loss in certain industries that will likely show up on both sides of the border,” he said.
Willoughby said it’s likely too early to understand how the labour market would be disrupted, but said any sector involved in resource extraction would likely be hit.
Moe also clarified dueling tariffs would not only increase inflation more rapidly, but it would make all North American countries less competitive and less stable trading partners overall, and industries could find elsewhere to do business.
“If we are not focused on that, as someone that lives on this continent, you can trust and rest assured that others around the world may be and they may be interested in it — not with our best interests in mind,” Moe said.
