Latest threat of steel and aluminum tariffs would hurt N.B., trade expert says

U.S. President Trump's plan to levy 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum tariffs would put New Brunswick in a bind, according to Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. 

"We are in uncharted waters on one hand, but charted waters on the other, meaning that we've been through this before," said Ron Marcolin, the group's divisional vice president for New Brunswick.

Trump levied tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in 2018 during his first term, and they lasted for just under a year.

"But it certainly is, yet again, an upsetting situation," Marcolin said.

The move comes after Trump initially threatened tariffs against nearly all imports from Canada, which was ultimately delayed until March 4.

WATCH | 'It's rewinding the tape back to 2018':

Tariffs could be devastating for N.B. manufacturing, expert says

19 hours ago

Duration 1:53

A 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium products, being threatened by U.S. President Trump, would be very risky for the province’s manufacturers, says Ron Marcolin of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.

But if Canada were to retaliate and match the tariffs, "It would be very risky for a Canadian and New Brunswick-based manufacturer, who used aluminum and steel in their production, to continue," Marcolin said.

He described the use of steel and aluminum as "all-encompassing" in manufacturing in New Brunswick, and added that it's challenging to put a number on the dollar amount of goods affected and how many workers may be at risk.

"You look at the average car — it includes both steel and aluminum and goes back and forth across the border a lot. We use steel and aluminum in building buildings, in various pieces of machinery, in infrastructure like bridges and culverts."

New Brunswick is not a steel- or aluminum-producing province, Marcolin said, so when those products are needed for manufacturing here, they are brought in from Ontario or Quebec or imported from the U.S. 

"We then process it and make it into various parts and then we export it to the United States."

The tariffs will directly raise prices in Canada, and companies will not be able to absorb the added 25 per cent so will pass the cost onto consumers, he said.

But it's not just Canadians who will be impacted, Marcolin said. Americans will also start to feel the heat.

"It's irony at its best because all the households in the United States, which were told by President Trump both before and leading up to the election that he will bring down ... costs," will actually see increased costs immediately, he said.

Marcolin used the example of household appliances, such as refrigerators, that are commonly manufactured in the United States using Canadian aluminum.

"It's going to be very hard to absorb all of that in one fell swoop if you are an American." 

In light of this most recent tariff threat, Premier Susan Holt is headed to Washington, D.C., with a delegation from the province.

"Our economies are deeply connected, supporting workers and businesses on both sides of the border in sectors such as energy, seafood, forestry, agriculture and aquaculture, among others," Holt said in a statement.

"We are heading to Washington to stress how this partnership benefits both of our economies and our communities."

Holt will be accompanied by Economic Development Minister Luke Randall and representatives from Cooke Aquaculture, J.D. Irving, New Brunswick Crab Processors, Mrs. Dunster's and Potatoes New Brunswick, the statement said.