Oil and gas can be taxed at a reduced rate under prices announced on Saturday by US President Donald Trump, but the rest of the Alberta products crossing the border will face 25% samples from Tuesday.
Although the details are still in progress, the trip to arrive here has been exhausting for certain industrial groups.
Bianca Parsons, Executive Director of Alberta Food Processors Association, said that the province’s food sector contributes $ 28 billion to the provincial economy. But that could change once the prices are in force, she said.
“It’s a delicate day because it’s a long time to come,” said Parsons. “We have heard small information.”
The wait was scary. “We don’t know what it means,” said Parsons. “How can we do it on the border?” What paperwork is involved? Where do you pay the price?… We have to know the whole image to see how long it will take so that it can affect a sticker price. »»
Parsons says there are already discussions among some companies for packaging and trips to the south of the border to avoid additional costs. “This allows them to manufacture the products they sell in the United States, the United States,” said Parsons. “For Alberta and Canadian companies, some of them move and we lose jobs.”
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Parsons says it was also difficult for companies to present investors. “To have investors or show your customers that it is the wonderful moment to invest in your product, it is frightening when you yourself are dealing with uncertainty.”
The weeks preceding the announcement of the price on Saturday caused an apprehension of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
Ruhee Ismail-Teja, vice-president of chamber and external affairs policy, says it is useful that there is now the clarity that prices are coming and information on the way Canada will react. “One of the biggest challenges for the room and the business world is to reduce noise.”
Ismail-Teja says that Alberta companies will undergo serious consequences of prices. The Chamber calls on the federal government to defuse tensions with the United States and to facilitate interprorcal trade restrictions.
“There are a lot of conversations on reprisals, and our business community has clearly indicated that, although it is on the list of options, it’s very close to the bottom,” she said.
“There is a lot of diplomacy that should be done first, and really, the priority should be dismissed for prices and withdraw them as quickly as possible.”
The economist Moshe Lander even says that the prices, no matter when they arrive, tend the economy. “It ends up weighing on people’s psychology. If they are now afraid of what it means, it becomes an obstacle to the economy, “he said. “It probably damages the confidence in business and consumers at this stage. When these falls, expenses tend to drop with it. »»
Lander says that the Albertans have already crossed price increases, especially during the Pandemic COVID-19 and periods of inflation, and he advises people to be careful by expenses.
“Make sure your money expenses are not long in a way. I cannot tell you how much food is wasted because people will say: “Oh children will eat it”. And then the next thing you know, you stick it in the garbage bag saying, “I guess we never got there,” he said. “You cannot do it now because this is another problem of cost of living and affordability.”
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