Nova Scotia’s leaders prepare response to President Trump’s tariffs

CTV's Ryan MacDonald reports on the impacts U.S. tariffs will have in the Maritimes, including at the grocery store.

People in Nova Scotia cast a wary eye south of the border on Saturday when U.S. President Donald Trump finally made good on his campaign promise to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports.

Premier Tim Houston outlined three steps Nova Scotia will take in response to tariffs in a statement released Saturday:

• Nova Scotia will limit access to provincial procurement for American businesses, look for opportunities to cancel existing contracts and maintain the option to reject bids outright.
• Tolls at the Cobequid Pass will double for commercial vehicles from the United States, effective Monday, February 3.
• The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation will remove all alcohol from the United States from their shelves effective Tuesday, February 4.

“We must ramp up our focus on finding new markets here at home with programs like Nova Scotia Loyal, focus on developing our own resources, eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers and, finally, of course, look for international diversification,” Houston said.

The premier said it was remarkable “to find ourselves at odds with our best friend and neighbour” over what he called “President Trump’s unlawful tariffs.”

NDP leader Claudia Chender expressed concern that the livelihoods of thousands of Nova Scotians could be at risk.

“We’ve got a lot of industries that are exposed, right? From paper, Christmas trees, apples to lobsters,” Chender said. “It could mean job losses. It’s certainly going to mean less productivity and less profit and I think for some businesses, it’s going to be a question of whether they can remain in the province.”

Dalhousie University agri-foods professor Sylvain Charlebois said between 60 and 70 per cent of Atlantic Canadian agri-food exports go to the United States. He said the Canadian government has to strike back but it could mean people will be paying more at the grocery store.

“If we are to retaliate, it takes 30 days before any tariffs on American imports go into effect,” Charlebois said. “So that could actually make our food more expensive pretty quickly. Thinking of produce, the freezer aisle, the center of the store - shelf staple products - many, many products we consume come from America.”

Following the premier’s announcement, Terah McKinnon, a communications advisor with the NSLC, told CTV the NSLC would stop selling products imported directly from the U.S. on Tuesday.

“At the moment, we are still working through the details that surround this decision,” McKinnon said. “For reference, last fiscal year sales of U.S. products imported directly from the U.S. totaled approximately $18 million at the NSLC and made up 7 per cent of all NSLC beverage alcohol listings.”

McKinnon said total beverage alcohol sales for the NSLC were $753 million last fiscal year.

Chender continued calls for a provincial task force to deal with tariffs.

“Nova Scotians want to understand,” Chender said. “What are the programs? What is the relief that is going to be put into place both at the provincial and the federal level to help folks avoid those worst-case scenarios.”

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