Uncertainty around U.S. tariffs on Canadian exports has some Prince Edward Island businesses saying trade barriers between provinces should be eased — but cautiously.
Some business owners, like Sebastian Manago, said it’s easier to sell their products to Americans than it is to break into other provinces.
“There are many, many hurdles… in order to get listed anywhere in Quebec,” said Manago, who owns Double Hill Cidery in Caledonia, P.E.I.
“It’s not because Quebecers don’t like our product. Whenever they come here, they say, ‘Why can’t we get this in Quebec?’ So there is a market there, but in between me and my consumers are various barriers in order to get into other provinces.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to place punishing tariffs on virtually all Canadian goods shipped south of the border is looming large over both countries.
Trump has promised at least a 30-day pause before putting those tariffs into effect, leaving the deadline at early next month.
But despite the promised reprieve, on Monday evening the president went ahead and signed an executive order imposing 25 per cent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum products from countries including Canada.
It’s all opened up a lot of talk on this side of the 49th parallel about removing interprovincial trade barriers.
A 2019 International Monetary Fund report showed that Canada as a whole was leaving money on the table by keeping these barriers in place. In today’s dollars, removing them would pump $245 billion into the economy, the report’s co-author said recently.
