The head of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce said job losses are “inevitable” and the future of small and medium businesses is in peril after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed punishing new tariffs on Canadian goods. The industry association was—like so many individuals and groups—watching anxiously as the clock counted down to the weekend deadline and Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from negotiations. Jen Riley, the chamber of commerce’s president and CEO, told CTV News Sunday that the most-recent development in the trade war has been frustratingly familiar. “I think this is par for the course. We’re back on the merry-go-round. We did the math and counted 15 changes over the last 21 months. So, I think we just continue to live in this world of uncertainty,” she said. In Riley’s estimation, small and medium sized businesses in British Columbia are set to bear a disproportionate burden. “The exports we have to the United States are now going to have a 50 per cent tariff. And a lot of those that are going to get hit are small and medium businesses—and that level of tariffs is generally not something they can absorb,” Riley said. “So, we are very worried here in British Columbia that small and medium businesses are not going to be able to make it out of this.” Riley noted the struggling softwood lumber industry has been a key concern—and that tariffs on so-called “value-added wood” products represent yet another blow. “We are hearing that job loss is inevitable,” she said. “Our forestry sector has already been hit with 45 per cent all-in tariffs on our softwood lumber. And now things like pulp, paper, and paper products, things like door frames, are hitting that 50 per cent tariff as well.” Still, Riley said she doesn’t doubt Carney made the right move. “Hearing that sovereignty was on the table, I certainly understand how we got to this point,” she said. Moving forward, Riley hopes government plans to support people and businesses impacted will materialize and that work to become less reliant on the U.S. will continue apace. With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson
