‘The elephant in the room is Trump and tariffs’: New Brunswick Manufacturers meet amid trade war

CME New Brunswick Manufacturing Day 2025 was held at the Crowne Plasa Lord Beaverbrook in Fredericton, N.B. (CTV/Avery MacRae)

Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) hosted CME New Brunswick Manufacturing Day 2025 at the Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook in Fredericton Tuesday.

The annual event happens each year, but the timing of the latest meeting could not have worked better given the 25 per cent tariff threats on all Canadian exports into the United States that continue from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The elephant in the room is Trump and tariffs,” admits CME Divisional vice president Ron Marcolin. “That will certainly be front and centre.”

Big New Brunswick companies such as Irving and Moosehead Breweries were present for the event which began Tuesday afternoon stretching well into the evening.

It gave the province’s manufacturers a chance to meet and talk in person about how they are dealing with the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the tariffs, including how companies within the province can better support one another.

Manufacturers in New Brunswick account for over 32,000 direct job, on top of the numerous spin-off jobs created by the sector. They are also responsible for over 90 per cent of the province’s exports, a large chunk of which go south to the United States.

“We’re all New Brunswickers and we’re all Canadians,” says Peter Mesheau, who is a senior advisor with Atlantic Limited Industries. “I think the more we pull together, supply each other materials, sell our goods here domestically and looking at different markets, the better we’re going to be.”

The event included a number of presentations, including a keynote speech from Premier Susan Holt to wrap up the event. The first presentation of the day was given by David Campbell, who is the president of Jupia Consultants Inc.

His presentation focused on the state of manufacturing with the province. He says in recent years, manufacturing exports, particularly international exports, have been on the decline in recent years relative to the size of the economy.

“We need to focus on why we have the lowest profit margins among the ten provinces in the country when it comes to the manufacturing sector over a ten-year period,” says Campbell.

“If you can’t make a good profit here, it’s going to be difficult for companies to invest here and they’re not going to the confidence to invest here. We need to think about why we’re not making a profit as a manufacturing sector. Is it labor related, is it energy costs what it taxes, what is driving that?”

Campbell continues to say productivity is a big factor, with New Brunswick not being as productive compared to other jurisdictions when it comes to most manufacturing. He adds New Brunswick could learn a lot from Scandinavian countries like Norway on how to diversify their international export market.

The latest round of tariffs is set to take effect on April 2. The impact of those tariffs is still widely unknown in the sector, and until the future is more clear businesses are going slow with their operations.

“They are not spending money on capital projects immediately,” says Marcolin. “They are pressing the pause button and unfortunately, they’re pressing the pause button as well on hiring. But we do know that obviously we can and have in the past weathered the storm, so we’re more than resilient.”

Marcolin says New Brunswick manufacturers continue to plan for the unknown with multiple plans, adding this is the third time they have head to deal with Trump related tariffs dating back to his first stint in office.

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