Trump’s tariffs would cause ‘pain and discomfort’ on both sides of border

The owner of one local company who regularly deals with goods crossing the border is calling U.S. president Donald Trump’s bluff on his tariff threats.

“He pumped his chest and threw in all these tariffs but rescinded them,” said Larry Fyke, president of Fyke Trading and Logistics, in reference to empty threats made in 2017 during Trump’s first term.

Fyke started his trucking company in Fort Erie 30 years ago. And while he doesn’t ship any of his own products, he helps his customers co-ordinate cross-border trade.

“They’ve got to have our lumber, our fossil fuels,” he said in an interview with Fort Erie Radio, adding the cost of many goods will “go through the roof” if the 25-per-cent tariffs being suggested by Trump are implemented.

“There’s going to be increased prices on everything,” said Fyke, adding that Americans need Canadian products.

Fyke said one long-standing plant in Fort Erie approached his business “scrambling” for warehouse space in Buffalo, which he has, to ship a large amount of product ahead of the tariffs being enacted.

And according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, there should be cause for concern on both sides of the border.

Trump’s proposed tariffs would cause Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to shrink by 2.6 per cent (or roughly CAD $78 billion), costing Canadians approximately $1,900 per person annually.

The United States GDP would go down 1.6 per cent (or roughly USD $467 billion), costing Americans approximately $1,300 per person annually.

Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop also has concerns about the possible tax on imported goods.

A meeting he had scheduled with Buffalo Mayor Christopher Scanlon to discuss the matter needed to be rescheduled, but a virtual meeting was held recently involving Canadian border mayors, which Redekop participated in.

He said a main takeaway is that border mayors need to be included in how the provincial and federal governments react to the tariffs once they are in play.

“We do believe we should be included at the table in those discussions that do take place,” Redekop told Fort Erie Radio.

With Canada expected to create its own retaliatory tariffs, Redekop hopes the American government will realize that “nobody’s going to win here” and tariffs would cause “significant pain and discomfort” on both sides.

He added that he believes it would set both countries back decades and that both would require additional customs officers to deal with the extra work the tariffs would create.

Redekop noted that there is plenty of uncertainty and called the U.S. president “unpredictable” and “unknowledgeable.”

It’s that level of uncertainty that has many local businesses that depend on cross-border trade waiting with bated breath.

Lori Vaughan, marketing manager for Abatement Technologies, said her company would respectfully decline to comment.

“We want to see what happens before we make any comments,” and that more could be said “after the dust settles,” said Vaughan.

Multiple emails to Airbus for this story were not answered. A voicemail left with Durez Canada on Tuesday was also not returned.

Vance Badawey, one of two MPs in Niagara who are part of the current federal Liberal government, told Fort Erie Radio that supply chains shouldn’t have borders and that goods should be able to “move freely” between countries.

“You’re basically taxing Americans to buy Canadian products,” said Badawey.

“There’s a reason products are coming from Canada (to the U.S.), which is because they need them,” he added.

Badawey, if re-elected later this year, would become Fort Erie’s federal representative due to a shuffle of ridings; Fort Erie will be part of a new Niagara South riding in the next federal election.

Badawey said the Canadian and U.S. governments have the “same desires,” which is a strong economy on both sides of the border.

“We do that better together,” he said.

The threat of stiff tariffs made by newly inaugurated U.S. president Donald Trump could also spell doom for a successful grain operation run by Sherkston farmer Andy Veenstra.

“We ship a lot of grain products over to New York and Pennsylvania and that’s going to affect us dramatically. We’re simply going to stop,” he said.

Veenstra said the possible tariffs would essentially make it impossible for him to sell his roasted grains south of the border.

“We can’t absorb it. The buyer certainly won’t. And the broker in between, he can’t pay for it, so we’re simply going to be out of the grain business going into the U.S.”

He started shipping product across the border about 35 years ago, finding an opportunity to sell the roasted grains in the U.S. to use for animal feed.

Veenstra maintains some hope that the Americans will realize how vital Canadian agricultural products are to their economy, though for now farmers like him just have to wait and see.

But even without the threat of tariffs, global agricultural markets are subject to fluctuations.

“The markets remain volatile this year,” said Steve Twynstra, a director for the Grain Farmers of Ontario.

Trudy McGovern, a grain merchant at Richardson International, shared a similar sentiment with Fort Erie Radio.

“It’s making marketing as a farmer really tough,” she said.

The realization that Trump wouldn’t immediately implement his threatened tariffs on Inauguration Day was met with a mix of relief and trepidation among some agricultural circles.

A statement from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Drew Spoelstra called it an opportunity.

“With today’s news that tariffs will not go into effect today, there is an opportunity for all of us, our premiers, our federal government, and our agricultural stakeholders to work to change the course and continue to try to convince President Trump and his administration that this is the wrong approach,” he said.

In the meantime, Spoelstra said provincial and federal governments should be shoring up their support for the agricultural sector, including expanding funding of the Risk Management Program in Ontario.

Various media reports suggest Trump will make a move on February 1 to impose tariffs.

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With files from Luke Edwards.

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