By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Last month, the United States applied a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum products from all countries, including Canada. On April 3, they imposed another 25% tariff, this time on Canadian automobiles, with some exclusions for American-made parts and auto parts that qualify for preferential tariff treatment under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
A further 25% tariff on other automobile parts is set to begin on May 3.
Despite both of these moves being met with reciprocal tariffs, many Canadians are still concerned about what effects the American tariffs will have on their day-to-day lives.
Many local businesses are bracing for the economic impact that more expensive goods will have on their ability to stay afloat.
Anita Cassidy, executive director of Burlington Economic Development (BED), said that the risks are different for different businesses.
“There’s very different impacts for a medium or small-sized business versus a large business that has the cash flow to kind of absorb those costs and get through it in the short term,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy said that BED is actively reaching out to businesses in Burlington to make sure they are aware of all of the supports that are available.
“They’ve got their heads down,” Cassidy said. “They’re looking at their own business models. They’re not really thinking about government funding, but there is a lot out there that can help them with the new business moment.”
“When we reach out to these businesses, they’re not aware of all the programs they could be accessing,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy mentioned the Canada-Ontario Job Grant, which provides funding to businesses to train their employees and update their skills.
She also mentioned the City of Burlington’s efforts to inform consumers about how to make sure they are buying Canadian goods.
A Trade and U.S. Tariff Resource Hub has also been launched on the BED/Tourism website.
Cassidy noted that the Burlington Chamber of Commerce has tariff, resource, and impact trackers on their website, another useful tool for business owners.
“They’re doing regular surveys through the Ontario Chamber of Commerce about what the direct impacts to businesses are,” Cassidy said. “How are they going to weather the storm? Is this going to affect their ability to expand in the future?”
Mark Eade, a mortgage broker for Eade Mortgages, spoke about how the tariffs have impacted his business.
“Our business is highly tied to interest rates, and interest rates have been coming down over the last ten months,” Eade said. “And essentially, this is providing a lot more volatility to the economy. So people aren’t as confident in making large purchases right now due to the fact that there’s a lot of tariffs going on and they’re not sure how that’s going to affect their income.”
Eade also said that the housing market in Burlington was improving in January and early February, but has “quieted down” since then.
“Bond prices have really spiked, and bonds are tied to mortgages,” Eade said. “When mortgage rates are higher in Canada, it makes it harder for Canadians to buy houses. And that slows down the housing market, which is 20% of our GDP, and we’re short a million housing units in Canada. So how is that going to help us build houses?”
He said that although Canada can’t compete with the likes of China or the U.S. in terms of what we produce, our natural resources give us an advantage.
“Certain things like the aluminum production out of Quebec, the aluminum ore is in northern Quebec, it’s in the ground,” Eade said. “It’s not in most of the U.S. And quite frankly, what else is in Quebec is hydroelectricity, which is green and relatively economical electricity, which you need to make aluminum.”
Cassidy spoke about another advantage that Canada has over other countries.
“A lot of the businesses and operations that we have in Canada are here because we’ve got the people and the talent,” Cassidy said.
“We had a business that we talked to the other day, who have U.S. operations as well,” Cassidy continued. “And they said, ‘Frankly, there is a discussion about whether we should shift these elements of our operations to the U.S., because that immediately exempts us from the tariff, but the gap there is talent.’”
Eade suggested that the federal government may have to invest in less environmentally friendly infrastructure projects to get Canadians out of a potential economic crisis.
“We’ve got to get our head around things like pipelines,” Eade said. “We need to be building pipelines. We need to be mining minerals. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, I don’t want to build pipelines. I don’t want to develop and hurt the environment in terms of mining.’ But that’s our economic advantage. So if we’re not going to go with that, then we just have to be willing to accept the economic consequences, which are less prosperous.”
Eade said that Canadians need to assess how much the tariffs will impact them before trying to future-proof themselves.
“I think people need to figure out if this will affect them,” Eade said. “If they or a member of their family is tied to the manufacturing or automotive industry, it is going to be very impactful. There’s a lot of other people that aren’t going to be impacted at all. And so my answer to them is, don’t worry about what you can’t control.”
“We can’t control what happens in the United States,” Eade continued. “We can control what happens within our borders. We can control what happens in our households.”
Cassidy said that the city and its programs are working together with other municipalities and organizations.
“We’re coordinating and doing it together,” Cassidy said. “[You have to] all coordinate and have the right channels to go through so that we do this as efficiently as possible and get the information to the businesses as fast as possible.”
Cassidy said that for advice, resources, or information, reach out to BED/Tourism, the Burlington Chamber of Commerce or the city directly.
“It’s really a one-window approach,” Cassidy said. “They’ll make sure you get through to the right person.”
