With just days until President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, industries across Alberta are bracing for the looming threat of tariffs to become a reality.
The threat of massive tariffs on all Canadian products exported to the United States has created uncertainty in Alberta’s agricultural industry as beef production requires multiple trips across the 49th parallel .
“There’s a lot of ‘what ifs,’” Janice Tranberg, president of the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association, told Global News.
“It’s hard to say for sure, but there is a lot of concern.”
According to Ryan Kasko, who runs the Kasko Cattle Company outside of Lethbridge, planning ahead is difficult.
He said a 25 percent tariff, in the worst case scenario, would result in a loss of value of $1,000 per head of livestock.
“Frankly, most farms would go bankrupt very quickly,” Kasko told Global News.
Beef dominated Alberta’s agricultural exports to the United States in 2023 with $3.1 billion, followed by crude canola oil with $1.2 billion, live cattle (excluding purebred) with $980.2 million, processed potatoes with $716.5 million and oilseed meals and meals with $666.1 million, according to numbers. from the Government of Alberta.
Given the amount of Alberta exports to the United States, Kasko said the impacts of trade restrictions will also be felt by Americans in grocery stores.
“I think that in an inflationary environment where food prices have increased, this is contrary to what one might consider normal behavior: imposing customs duties will cause food prices to increase even more ” he said.
“I’m quite optimistic that common sense will prevail.”
In a statement to Global News, Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson said the province was “very concerned about the potential for tariffs.”
Sigurdson said Alberta exported $8.9 billion worth of primary agricultural and value-added products to the United States last year.
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“There is still much unknown about the possible impact of the tariffs, but we will work with the new administration and industry to ensure that the voices of our food producers and forestry sector are heard,” the statement said. Sigurdson.
Impacts are also expected at companies like Rangeland RV, which regularly ships steel, aluminum and other RV parts from the United States.
“This can affect everything from parts timing, parts prices, RV prices, labor rates and everything in between,” said Cody Nielsen, vice president of sales for Rangeland RV , at Global News.
But with the announcement that the federal government is planning a first round of counter-tariffs on goods worth $37 billion deemed less harmful to the economy, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce is advocating a different approach.
“Calgary Chamber members have made it very clear to us that no sector should be used as a bargaining chip,” the Chamber’s Ruhee Ismail-Teja told Global News.
According to the chamber, the retaliatory measures would “mimic and amplify” the impacts of American tariffs, thereby reducing the value of Canadian energy products.
Chamber of Commerce figures show the energy industry accounts for 25 per cent of Canada’s total exports and accounts for $150 billion in annual trade with the United States.
“The ‘Team Canada’ approach is not lost at this point,” Ismail-Teja said.
“This is a difficult situation for political leaders, where they must both advocate for the needs of their province or jurisdiction, but also stand alongside their colleagues to form as unified a front as possible.
The Alberta government also opposes any retaliatory measures that would impact the energy sector.
“The tariffs could impact hundreds of thousands of jobs in Alberta,” a Ministry of Finance spokesperson said in a statement to Global News.
“But if the federal government imposes an import tax or ban on energy products, the consequences would be crippling for the livelihoods of all Albertans. »
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